The Virginia Board of Education has announced that King Elementary School is being awarded the Highest Achievement Award under the board’s Exemplar School Recognition Program.

The Board of Education also awarded Chris Yung, Featherstone, Montclair, and Vaughan Elementary Schools the Continuous Improvement Award.

"The Exemplar Awards recognize the remarkable educators who go above and beyond each day for students, sharing their innovation and dedication toward learning,” shared Superintendent of Schools Dr. LaTanya D. McDade. 

“Receiving the Highest Achievement and Continuous Improvement Awards highlights how the school division is achieving the commitments outlined in the PWCS Vision 2025 Launching Thriving Futures Strategic Plan, specifically, Commitment 1: Learning and Achievement for All. By setting high expectations and engaging students in rigorous learning, students will have the knowledge, skills, habits of mind, and digital tools needed to fully embrace advanced opportunities leading to higher levels of academic achievement,” added Dr. McDade.

The Board of Education implemented this recognition program for schools in 2019. It was established to recognize schools that exceed requirements created by the board or show continuous academic improvement.

To receive the Board of Education’s Highest Achievement Award, the school must be accredited and meet all the following criteria:

• The school meets state benchmark in reading, math, and science (75% for reading and 70% for math and science) based on the current year pass rate on state assessments (not including growth or English learner progress);
• All student groups within the school meet state benchmarks in reading and math (75% for reading and 70% for math) based on the current year pass rate on state assessments (not including growth or English learner progress), and
• For schools with two student groups, there is no more than five percentage points between the lowest performing group and all other students in the school; or
• For schools with three or more student groups, there is no more than 10 percentage points between the lowest performing group and all other students in the school.

To receive the Board of Education’s Continuous Improvement Award, the school must be accredited or accredited with conditions and meet at least one of the following criteria:

• The school demonstrates an increase in the combined rate for math, reading, and science for each of the past three years (for 2022-23 only, the three years are 2017-18, 2018-19, and 2021-22), with a total increase across the three years of 10 points or more;
• The school demonstrates an increase in the combined rate for two or more student groups in reading and math for each of the past three years (for 2022-23 only, the three years are 2017-18, 2018-19, and 2021-22), with a total increase across the three years of 10 points or more;
• The school demonstrates an increase in the Graduation and Completion Index (GCI) for each of the past three years (for 2022-23 only, the three years are 2017-18, 2018-19, and 2021-22), with a total increase across the three years of 4% or more; and school demonstrates a decrease in the dropout rate for each of the past three years (for 2022-23 only, the three years are 2017-18, 2018-19, and 2021-22), with the total reduction across three years of 15% or more of the first year’s dropout rate.

To learn more about the Exemplar Performance School Awards, visit the Virginia Department of Education’s website.