APS Opts Against Using Nottingham Elementary School As 'Swing Space'

ARLINGTON, VA — A proposal to use Nottingham Elementary School as “swing space” while other schools in the county undergo renovation will not be included in Arlington Public Schools’ capital improvement plan currently under consideration, according to county school officials.

At its “Committee of the Whole Meeting” Tuesday night, Arlington Public Schools decided against closing down Nottingham as a neighborhood school and converting it into swing space as part of its 2025-2034 capital improvement plan.

Based on an APS report, which evaluated the condition of all county school facilities, the list of schools recommended for renovation had decreased from all 42 schools to 10 schools, according to an email sent to APS families Wednesday morning.

“Those projects will not require the use of the swing space proposal at Nottingham at this time,” APS said in the email. “There may be a need for swing space for future projects, and any swing space proposals will be communicated well in advance.”

For the past several months, past, current and future parents of Nottingham students had organized to save the school and had spoken out against the proposal to convert the school from a neighborhood school into swing space for students whose schools elsewhere in the county are undergoing renovation.

Nottingham is located on Little Falls Road in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Arlington.

According to Nottingham parents, the thinking among Arlington School Board members had changed in recent weeks and shifted toward the belief that swing space for students would not be needed in Arlington anytime soon.