Arlington Tech Governor's STEM Academy, Grace Hopper Center, 800 S. Walter Reed Drive: grades 9-12 by lottery, 609 students in fall 2026.

Last checked Oct. 19, 2026. Sources: Arlington Tech, the Grace Hopper Center, Arlington Public Schools’ schools and programs and option schools pages, the APS membership summary and the federal NCES school directory.

Arlington Tech Governor’s STEM Academy is a countywide Arlington Public Schools (APS) option high school. Students apply through the APS lottery and attend full time, most from ninth grade. It is one of 21 Governor’s STEM Academies in Virginia, according to its About page, and through a partnership with Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) students can earn college credits, degrees or certificates in dual-enrollment classes.

Who to call

  • Grace Hopper Center main office: 703-228-5800 (fax 703-228-5815)
  • Applications and the lottery: APS Welcome Center, 703-228-8000, option 1; 2110 Washington Blvd., first floor
  • Buses and general questions: APS main line, 703-228-8000
Address Grace Hopper Center, 800 S. Walter Reed Drive, Arlington, VA 22204
Grades 9 to 12
School day 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. (early release 12:50 p.m.)
Website arlingtontech.apsva.us
Division Arlington Public Schools

Arlington Tech’s About page still gives the old Arlington Career Center address, 816 S. Walter Reed Drive. The program now sits in the new Grace Hopper Center at 800 S. Walter Reed Drive, according to its Grace Hopper Center page and the center’s own site, which says it brings together Arlington Tech, Langston, the former career center’s career and technical courses and the new Multilingual Pathways program.

Principal

Principal Margaret Chung leads career and technical education and Arlington Tech, according to the Grace Hopper Center’s administration page. Michelle Van Lare is the program coordinator, according to the Arlington Tech website.

Enrollment and teachers

  • APS count: 609 students on Sept. 30, 2026: 241 ninth graders, 148 in 10th grade, 121 in 11th and 99 in 12th, in APS’s official membership summary (PDF). APS separately counts 82 students enrolled at the Grace Hopper Center itself.
  • Federal count: the NCES directory lists the Governor’s Academy for Career and Technical Education in Arlington with 85 full-time-equivalent teachers in 2023-24 but reports no enrollment for it, so no student-teacher ratio can be worked out from that row.

State report card

Virginia publishes no separate School Quality Profile or framework rating for Arlington Tech; the state’s list of Arlington schools does not include it. APS’s 2026-27 division summary (PDF) rates 35 schools and does not list it either.

Admission

Arlington Tech takes applicants for grades 9, 10 and 11, according to its apply page:

  • Ninth grade: live in Arlington County and have passed the math SOL in seventh grade.
  • 10th grade: live in Arlington, be on track to finish Algebra 1 and Geometry so as to start Algebra 2 in 10th grade, and have earned at least a C in eighth-grade science and math.
  • 11th grade: live in Arlington, have a GPA of 3.0 or higher and be on track to finish Algebra 2 and Chemistry before 11th grade, with at least a C in the first quarter of each.

For 2027-28, lottery applications open Monday, Nov. 9, 2026, on SchoolMint and close at 4 p.m. Friday, Jan. 22, 2027. The live lottery is Friday, Feb. 12, 2027, according to APS’s option schools page.

The program’s pages list pathways in audio, visual and communications; engineering; health sciences; information technology; and STEM, with project-based learning and a yearlong senior capstone.

Attendance zone

Arlington Tech has no neighborhood zone. Every Arlington address is still assigned a neighborhood high school; check yours in the APS boundary locator.

Calendar and bell times

From the APS 2026-27 calendar:

  • Wednesday, Oct. 28: early release, all schools
  • Monday, Nov. 2: end of first quarter
  • Tuesday, Nov. 3: no school for students (Election Day)
  • Wednesday, Nov. 11: Veterans Day, no school
  • Nov. 25-27: Thanksgiving break
  • Dec. 23 to Jan. 1: winter break
  • March 22-26, 2027: spring break
  • Thursday, June 17, 2027: last day of school, early release

The Grace Hopper Center day runs 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., with early release at 12:50 p.m., according to APS.

More on Arlington schools

Frequently asked questions

What grades does Arlington Tech serve?

Grades 9 through 12. APS counted 609 students on Sept. 30, 2026: 241 ninth graders, 148 in 10th grade, 121 in 11th and 99 in 12th.

How do you get into Arlington Tech?

Through the APS option-school lottery. Applications for 2027-28 open Monday, Nov. 9, 2026, and close at 4 p.m. Friday, Jan. 22, 2027. Ninth-grade applicants must live in Arlington and have passed the seventh-grade math SOL.

Where is Arlington Tech?

In the Grace Hopper Center, 800 S. Walter Reed Drive. The center replaced the Arlington Career Center and also houses Langston and APS’s career and technical education courses.

What time does Arlington Tech start?

8 a.m. to 3 p.m., with early release at 12:50 p.m., according to Arlington Public Schools.