MEDIA RELEASE—Arlington Local Schools, in partnership with Arlington Heart & Soul and community organizations, will welcome alumni, former staff, families and friends back to Arlington for an All-School Homecoming on Friday, October 2 and Saturday, October 3.

The celebration is designed to bring together every class, every era and everyone who has called Arlington Schools home, while giving former students, staff and the community an opportunity to visit the new PK-12 school and celebrate the history that connects generations of Red Devils.

The new school will be open to visitors from 4–6 p.m. Friday and 9–11 a.m. Saturday. Guests will be able to take self-guided tours of the building and see projects created to preserve and share Arlington’s school history.

A highlight of the weekend will be the unveiling of an 18-foot historical timeline installed near the entrance of the new school. The timeline traces the story of Arlington Schools from the opening of the centralized school in 1924 through the transition to the new school more than a century later. Visitors will also have an opportunity to watch We’ll Remember Thee, a documentary created to capture the memories, stories and significance of the former school before its demolition.

Friday evening will continue with Arlington’s Homecoming football game and the Arlington FFA will also hold its annual Chicken BBQ in the school cafeteria Friday evening, allowing another opportunity to gather, reconnect and enjoy a longstanding Arlington tradition.

Arlington Heart & Soul’s community engagement process found that both the school and history and tradition are deeply valued by residents. Preserving pieces of Arlington’s school heritage and carrying them into the new building became one of the community’s highest-priority ideas.

Whether someone graduated recently, attended Arlington decades ago, taught in the district, worked in the schools or simply considers themselves part of the Red Devil community, they are invited to come home, reconnect and be part of the celebration.

Arlington Heart & Soul is a 501(c)(3) organization founded in 2025 after completing the Orton Foundation’s Heart & Soul process. Arlington was awarded the Heart & Soul grant by the Findlay-Hancock Community Foundation in July 2022 with the goal of bringing the community together by talking about and identifying what matters most to all of us. Arlington Heart & Soul continues that mission as an independent non-profit, existing with support from the Community Foundation, community leaders, and community organizations.