VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - Virginia Beach schools received a record amount of awards from the Virginia Board of Education's exemplar performance school recognition program.
The Virginia Board of Education announced their annual awards under VDOE's exemplar performance school recognition program, which honors schools in the Commonwealth for exceeding state accreditation standards, narrowing achievement gaps and improving outcomes for students.
VBCPS received nine 2020 Highest Achievement Exemplar Awards.
The VBCPS schools who won an award include: Arrowhead Elementary, Green Run Collegiate, Green Run Elementary, Kingston Elementary, North Landing Elementary, Ocean Lakes Elementary, Old Donation School, Rosemont Elementary and Shelton Park Elementary.
To earn this distinction, a school had to earn a state rating of “accredited” and meet the following benchmarks:
- 70% pass rate on state assessments in science and mathematics
- 75% pass rate on state assessment in English reading and writing
- No more than a 5% gap (for schools with two student demographic groups) or a 10% gap (for schools with three or more student demographic groups) in English reading and writing and math between the lowest-performing group and all other students in the school
“Our educators are committed to student success throughout their academic years and beyond,” said Virginia Beach City Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Aaron Spence. “We are gratified and honored that our schools continue to be recognized for providing all children, regardless of ZIP code, access to high-quality instruction and social-emotional learning.”
Twelve schools in the district earned the most 2020 Continuous Improvement Award, which highlights those schools that are rated “accredited” or “accredited with conditions” for 2019-2020.
Those schools include: Bayside High, Birdneck Elementary, Brookwood Elementary, Centerville Elementary, Corporate Landing Elementary, Floyd Kellam High, Glenwood Elementary, Luxford Elementary, Lynnhaven Middle, Rosemont Forest Elementary, Salem High and Windsor Woods Elementary.
Recognized schools also met at least one of the following four criteria based on performance during 2018-2019:
- A 10-point increase in the combined rate in reading and math, and in the pass rate in science
- A 10-point increase in the combined rate in reading and math for two or more student groups across three years
- A decrease in the chronic absenteeism rate for three years; or
- For schools with a graduating class, an increase in the Graduation and Completion Index and a decrease in the dropout rate for three years
The Virginia Board of Education approved the criteria for the exemplar performance awards in 2018. The recognition program is aligned with the board’s accreditation standards and replaced the Virginia Index of Performance recognition program.
