Metro Connection

Ninety-three-year-old Therrell Smith started teaching ballet in D.C. in the 1940s and still teaches today, both in D.C. Public Schools and at the Therrell C. Smith School of Dance, which she single-handedly runs in Northeast D.C. But with enrollment down, Therrell is struggling to keep her beloved school open. Rebecca Sheir tags along with Smith to find out what might become of her graceful legacy.

[Music: "Shall We Dance" by Cassandra Wilson from Blue Skies]

The D.C. Office on Aging predicts the local senior population will "increase exponentially by 2025," and of those seniors, DCOA says 17 percent live at or below the poverty level. Rebecca Sheir visits the Lisner-Louise-Dickson-Hurt Home in Northwest D.C., which caters solely to medically-indigent seniors, to learn how it's helping elders make their "Golden Years" even more golden.

[Music: "Help" by Howie Day from I Am Sam]

A few years ago, Metro's SmarTrip cards were on the cutting edge of transit technology. Now they're becoming obsolete, and Metro has to find a replacement soon. David Schultz gives us the scoop on why Metro is facing this problem, and how it might affect commuters.

[Music: "A to B" by The Futureheads from The Futureheads / "I'm Old Fashioned" by Chet Baker from Chet Baker Plays for Lovers]

Principals are often the most senior people walking the hallways of our public schools. But hanging on to a good principal, and getting rid of what might be a not-so-good one, is a difficult process, one that, in D.C. at least, has been overshadowed by the intense focus on evaluating teachers. But as Kavitha Cardoza tells us, that's changing, now that DCPS has created a new evaluation tool for principals.

[Music: "Principal's Office by Young MC from Stone Cold Rhymin']

The bloody battle between North and South is a key part of our region's history. The city of Alexandria was occupied by federal troops during the war between the states, and it's remembering that time with "Life in Civil War Alexandria," a kick-off for its commemoration of this year's Civil War Sesquicentennial. Rebecca Sheir visits Old Town to learn more about the geographic, political and social role Alexandria played in the Civil War.

[Music: "Battle Hymn of the Republic" by Louis...