iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary School @drew.apsva.us · 01/09/2026

👋🏾🎉🐉 Hello from the Drew Team! Our staff is excited to welcome our students and families back for an amazing 2026–27 school year! This year, we’re Rising to Higher Heights together, with one shared commitment to 100% Student Success! 🚀 Here’s to a wonderful year ahead! Meet our Staff! #DrewDragons

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Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary School @drew.apsva.us · 03/06/2026

🎉Happy Retirement to two of our dedicated and devoted prek assistants in our Community Peer Program (CPP)! Congratulations Ms. Maria Parra (left) on 31.5 years and Ms. Ingry Stephens (right) on 23 years. We truly value your service and will miss you dearly.

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Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary School @drew.apsva.us · 11/05/2026

🎉🎖🌟 Congratulations to our "Kirstins"! We celebrated Ms. Kirstin Lawler, Support Staff of the Year and Ms. Kirstin Riddick, Teacher of the Year at the APS Celebration of Excellence Ceremony. They are amazing educators who are committed to excellence at Drew! ❤️ or comment below to celebrate them too.

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Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary School @drew.apsva.us · 06/05/2026

🎉🏥👩🏾‍⚕️ Let's show our appreciation for School Nurse Day. Nurse Garcia and Health Aide Boada-Salom keep our dragons healthy with a smiling face and patient care. ❤️ or comment to show your appreciation.

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Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary School @drew.apsva.us · 05/05/2026

MAY is Better Speech and Hearing Month! We truly appreciate the passion and commitment of our Speech and Language Pathologists! ❤️ or comment to show your appreciation!

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Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary School @drew.apsva.us · 03/05/2026

🥁🎉👏🏾 And the ASFF Top FILM Award goes to......our DNN Team and Ornithologist!!! Congratulations to our dragons and Ms. Riddick and Ms. Farrell on this amazing accomplishment.

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Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary School @drew.apsva.us · 23/04/2026

🍽📚🍽 Our April Dine in REaD Literacy Night in 4th grade included games and home based resources to prepare for the SOL Assessment. Thank you to the 4th grade team and families for high impact engagement.

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Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary School @drew.apsva.us · 22/04/2026

Happy Administrative Professionals Day to Ms. Cantor, Ms. Johnson and Ms. Samuels! 🌟 Thank you for everything you do to keep things running smoothly behind the scenes and beyond. Your organization and dedication make a difference every single day. We truly appreciate all that you bring to our team!

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Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary School @drew.apsva.us · 21/04/2026

🎉April is full of celebration. Join us in acknowledging our patient, caring and knowledgeable OTs. We appreciate them!

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Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary School @drew.apsva.us · 08/04/2026

Let's celebrate Mr. Welch, for National Assistant Principals Week! We are lucky to have Mr. Welch at Drew and serving our school community in countless ways. #APWeek #AssistantPrincipalsWeek

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Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary School @drew.apsva.us · 07/04/2026

Join us in celebrating Mrs. Dora Sue Black for National School Librarian Day (April 4th). Thank you for inspiring curiosity, encouraging imagination, and opening doors to endless possibilities. Click ❤️ to show your appreciation. #thankalibrarian #schoollibrarianday2026

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Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary School @drew.apsva.us · 23/03/2026

🧊🌊🧪 Exploring bodies of water in the Dragon's den! Our 3rd-grade scientists are engaged and thriving with Ms. Riddick and Ms. Hasberry's parallel teaching model and Kagan strategies.

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Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary School @drew.apsva.us · 16/03/2026

Our leadership team traveled to Spotsylvania County for a powerful professional learning workshop From Intention to Impact: Instruction that Drives Student Achievement led by James Madison Univ. professor/best-selling author Dr. Almarode sponsored by the VA School Consortium for Learning (VaSCL).

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Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary School @drew.apsva.us · 07/03/2026

Our Dragon News Network producers & hosts were thrilled to interview Veronica Ogbe, producer and host of Good Morning Washington on WJLA Channel 7 and learn from her experiences. Look out for our feature on Good Morning Washington soon! Thank you Ms. Riddick and Ms. Farrell for making this possible.

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Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary School @drew.apsva.us · 27/02/2026

🍽📚 Our Dine In REaD Literacy Night was a success. Thank you to our families for joining us for an interactive literacy experience - stations, data talks, take home kits, conversation starters & more. Special thanks to our PTA, ZCO of AKA, FACE, & Staff donors. Kudos to Ms. Darden & 4th grade team!

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Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary School @drew.apsva.us · 20/02/2026

💫💫💫Congratulations! Maryam Pouresmaeil 25, Evin Rodriguez 25, Maria Parra 30, & Tenita Chapman 35 for their years of service. Thank you for your dedication. Today Dr. Durán and the central office team recognized Conor O'Rourke as an APS All-Star for his dedication to our MIPA students.

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Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary School @drew.apsva.us · 10/02/2026

Dr. Duran acknowledges the tremendous dedication and commitment demonstrated by our custodians during the snowstorm. We are eternally grateful to Ms. Isabel, Mr. Gerber, Ms. Blanca, Mr. Jose and Ms. Zoila for working in subzero weather ensuring our school grounds were ready to re-open.

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Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary School @drew.apsva.us · 05/02/2026

National School Counseling Week is Feb. 2-6. The theme of this year’s National School Counseling Week is “School Counselors Amplify Student Success.” Please take a moment to recognize and celebrate the imperative work of our school counselors - Ms. "Mia" Williamson and Ms. Castromiller. #NSCW2026

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Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary School @drew.apsva.us · 16/01/2026

🎉🎈🤗 Our Dragons showed Principal Gaither their appreciation by surprising her with her favorite snacks, "tea time" and cards. We closed out the week with a finale balloon "ambush". She was super surprised. Thank you Ms. Gaither for all that you do for Drew. #VASchoolPrincipalAppreciationWeek

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Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary School @drew.apsva.us · 07/01/2026

👏🏾🎉🏆Happy Retirement Ms. V, a long-standing and deeply loved member of the Drew family. Ms. Venesia Edghill, affectionately known to all as Ms. V, has dedicated 24 years of service to APS with 23 of those years spent right here at Drew.

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Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary School @drew.apsva.us · 17/12/2025

🌲🌲🌲 Winter Tree Challenge in 5th Grade! Our 5th grade dragons took this challenge head on to Ask! Imagine! Design! Build! Share! and Improve!

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Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary School @drew.apsva.us · 12/12/2025

Drew’s 4th Gr ELA, Instructional Tech & STEAM Team Presents at the VSTE Annual Conference @vste.org Delicia Darden ELA Teacher, Michelle Young-Hasberry, ITC & Kirstin Riddick, STEAM Coordinator presented their cross-curricular project Grade 4 Revolutionaries Finding Our Voices Through Podcasting.

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Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary School @drew.apsva.us · 12/12/2025

❄️📚❄️📚 "Elsa" aka Mrs. Black, our librarian zapped our dragons with a blizzard - Our annual Blizzard of Books. Thank you to sponsors Reading is Fundamental of Northern Virgina and Delta Sigma Theta for the donation of books and guest readers. #rifnova #bookschangelives

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Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary School @drew.apsva.us · 08/12/2025

❄️🎉We had "snow" much fun at our Dec staff Gingerbread House Competition. Our staff put their STEM skills to the test. Judges Principal Gaither & AP Welch had a tough time choosing a winner. Thanks to the JOY Committee for a fun celebration for the holiday season. Congrats to winning 5th grade team.

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Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary School @drew.apsva.us · 05/12/2025

🎉 We celebrated a double win today with our "Kirstins"! Kirstin Riddick Teacher of the Year & STEAM Coordinator and Kirstin Lawler Support Staff of the Year & Library Assistant. Congratulations on your remarkable commitment to our community! We are looking forward to the celebration ceremony in May.

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Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary School @drew.apsva.us · 01/10/2025

🎉🌟💫 Congratulations to our social worker Carol “CJ” Burka, who was recently recognized as a National Certified School Social Worker. Read more on our APS or Drew website.

Picture of Carol CJ Burka school social worker

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Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary School @drew.apsva.us · 22/09/2025

September has been busy for our Dragons! 🐉📚 From Back to School Night 💡, to an inspiring visit from author Jerry Pallotta ✍🏽, to celebrating family on Grandparents’ Day ❤️! THANK YOU to our amazing Admin, Teachers, Librarian Ms. Black, PTA, families, & students for making it all possible! #APSFACE

collage of pics of grandparents and their grandchildren

collage of pics from back to school night

School librarian Ms. Black and Author J. Pallotta

Principal with Author holding books, Author presenting to students

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Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary School @drew.apsva.us · 15/09/2025

🚀✨ Happy Hispanic Heritage Month, Dragons! We kicked off the celebration on our Dragons News Network this morning! 🎥🐉 Today we highlighted Ellen Ochoa, the first Hispanic woman to go to space! 🛰️🌍 Let’s honor her amazing journey! 💫 #HispanicHeritageMonth

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Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary School @drew.apsva.us · 10/09/2025

👩‍🌾🚿👨‍🌾 Be a Drew Garden Volunteer. Sign-up here: tinyurl.com/drewgarden

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Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary School @drew.apsva.us · 08/09/2025

🥚🧪🔬Ms. Flauss and our 5th grade dragons engaged in an Egg Drop activity to stimulate their understanding and connection with kinetic energy and energy transformation. Planning, building, testing and evaluating results help students reflect and improve their design. #APSisawesome 📸: Ms. Burka

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Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary School @drew.apsva.us · 05/09/2025

🧪👩🏾‍⚕️3rd grade teacher, Ms. Bell is getting ready for a science lesson with STEMScopes! Our 3rd grade dragons are super engaged and are off to a great start learning science 🕸🕷🕸🕷.

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Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary School @drew.apsva.us · 02/09/2025

🌟APS is Seeking Hispanic Heritage Month Videos In anticipation of (Sept 15 – Oct 15), APS invites you to submit a short video by Fri, Sept. 5 sharing “What tradition, celebration, or saying makes you feel most connected to your culture?” 👋🏾See Friday Five Message for link to submit.

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Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary School @drew.apsva.us · 23/08/2025

😁👋🏾🎉 Our Open House was a huge success, filled with smiles, hugs, and positive energy. We're thrilled to welcome back our K-5 dragons on Monday August 25th and PreK Tuesday August 26th!

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Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary School @drew.apsva.us · 19/08/2025

🍦🍨🍧 Hey Drew Dragons! Join our @drewelempta this Saturday for a cool treat with your fellow dragons. See you there!

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Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary School @drew.apsva.us · 19/06/2025

☮️ What a peaceful way to end an amazing school year in the Drew Community! Thank you to our Staff, Families, Community and @arlingtonvapd for uniting with us for our annual tradition to demonstrate to our neighborhood that we want a safe, inclusive, and kind community. Have a safe summer!

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