The Virginia Board of Education recently announced that Alvey, Bel Air, McAuliffe, Minnieville, and River Oaks Elementary Schools are being recognized for high student achievement under the board's new exemplar performance recognition program. They have earned the Board of Education's Highest Achievement Award. This is the second consecutive year Bel Air and Minnieville Elementary Schools have received this distinction.
Antietam, Belmont, Dale City, Glenkirk, Kerrydale, King, Lake Ridge, Springwoods, and Mary Williams Elementary Schools, Bull Run, Fred Lynn, Hampton, Lake Ridge, and Marsteller Middle Schools, Brentsville, Charles J. Colgan Sr., Freedom, Osbourn Park, Patriot, Potomac, and Stonewall Jackson High Schools, and Pennington Traditional School, have earned the Board of Education's Continuous Improvement Award. The is the second consecutive year Springwoods Elementary has been awarded.
The
Board
of
Education
established
the
new
recognition
program
for
schools
in
2019.
The
exemplar
performance
school
recognition
program
recognizes
schools
that
excel
in
the
state's
accreditation
system
focusing
on
test
performance,
achievement
gaps,
graduation
rates,
absenteeism,
dropout
rates,
and
more.
To
earn
the
Board
of
Education's
Highest
Achievement
Award,
the
school
must
earn
a
state
accreditation
rating
of
Accredited,
and
meet
the
following
benchmarks:
- 70 percent pass rate on state assessments in science and mathematics;
- 75 percent pass rate on state assessments in English reading and writing;
- No more than five percent gap (for schools with two student groups) or a 10 percent gap (for schools with three or more student groups) in English reading and writing, and in mathematics, between the lowest-performing group and all other students in the school.
To earn the Board of Education's Continuous Improvement Award, the school must earn a state accreditation rating of Accredited or Accredited with Conditions and meet at least one of the following benchmarks for improved performance on accreditation-related indicators:
- A cumulative 10-point increase over three years in the combined rates for reading and mathematics and in the pass rate for science, with improvement each year on each indicator;
- A cumulative 10-point increase over three years in the combined rates for reading and mathematics for two or more student groups, with improvement each year for each group on both indicators;
- A cumulative 15 percent decrease in the chronic absenteeism rate over three years, with a decrease each year; or
- For schools with a graduating class, a cumulative four-point increase in the Graduation and Completion Index over three years, with an increase each year, and a cumulative 15-percent decrease in the dropout rate, with a decrease each year.
Each
school
in
PWCS
has
earned
accreditation
status
from
the
Virginia
Department
of
Education.
These
schools'
persistent
dedication
to
making
continuous
strides
in
improvements
and
exemplary
accomplishments
demonstrates
students
receive
a
World-Class
Education.
To
learn
more
about
the
Exemplar
Performance
School
Awards,
visit
the
Virginia
Department
of
Education's
website.