WHEREAS, Abby Raphael, who has served as a member of the Arlington School Board since 2008, retires in 2015; and

WHEREAS, Abby Raphael has been elected as school board chair twice by her colleagues; as chair she has made great strides for the school division and the students and families of Arlington; and

WHEREAS, a parent activist, Abby Raphael served as volunteer and vice chair of the Arlington Public Schools Advisory Council on Instruction, member of the Arlington Public Schools Budget Advisory Council and the Food Services Advisory Committee, president of the Arlington Science Focus Elementary School PTA, and representative to the County Council of PTAs; and

WHEREAS, Abby Raphael has served on the Second Chance Advisory Committee of the Arlington Partnership for Children, Youth and Families Foundation, which is an early intervention substance abuse program for Arlington youth; and

WHEREAS, in 2014 Abby Raphael was chosen by her regional school board colleagues to serve as chair of the Washington Area Boards of Education, where she worked to strengthen collaboration and cooperation in school divisions throughout the region; and

WHEREAS, Governor Terry McAuliffe appointed Abby Raphael to serve as a member of the Governor's Task Force on Combating Campus Sexual Violence; and

WHEREAS, Abby Raphael is a member of the National Capital Region Emergency Preparedness Council of the Metropolitan Washington Area Council of Governments; and

WHEREAS, a former Arlington County Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney, Abby Raphael earned her bachelor's degree from Duke University and her law degree from the University of Virginia; and

WHEREAS, Abby Raphael has lived in Arlington since 1989, and she and her husband, Stuart, have two daughters; and

WHEREAS, Abby Raphael announced that she will be retiring from the Arlington School Board at the completion of her term in 2015; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend Abby Raphael for her years of service to Arlington Public Schools and her tenure on the Arlington School Board; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Abby Raphael as an expression of the General Assembly's admiration for her many contributions to Arlington County.