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All but 8% of Virginia schools are fully accredited: Here's how the system works

92% of public schools earned full-fledged accredited rating for 2019-20 year

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ROANOKE, Va. – All but 8% of Virginia's public school are meeting the state Board of Education’s expectations for achievement and improving student outcomes for this school year.

Here are a few key points from this year's ratings:

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  • Schools meeting the state board’s goal for reducing chronic absenteeism increased by from 1,600 to 1,663
  • 23 schools identified as in need of state support to reduce chronic absenteeism, 21 fewer schools than last year.
  • The number of schools identified as in need of state assistance to address achievement gaps in English increased from 112 last year to 125 this year.
  • As a consequence of the school quality indicator ratings, 252 schools will undergo academic reviews.
    • This number is from the number of schools at Level Two on any academic achievement indicator and the number of schools that had Level Three in any of the eight total sub-categories.

Here's a look at how the accreditation system works:

First, school quality indicators are grouped into three categories:

  • Academic achievement
    • Within this category are English, math and science.
  • Achievement gaps
    • Within this category are English and math.
  • Student engagement and outcomes
    • Within this category are chronic absenteeism, dropout rate (high school) and graduation and completion (high school).

Within each subcategory, schools are graded at one of three levels:

  • Level One: Meets or exceeds state standard or sufficient improvement
  • Level Two: Near state standard or sufficient improvement
  • Level Three: Below state standard

From those rankings is how accreditation is determined.

  • Accredited — Schools with all school quality indicators at either Level One or Level Two. In addition, high-performing schools with waivers from annual accreditation authorized by the General Assembly are rated as Accredited.
  • Accredited with Conditions — Schools with one or more school quality indicators at Level Three.
  • Accreditation Denied — Schools that fail to adopt or fully implement required corrective actions to address Level Three school-quality indicators.

In our area, Danville City Public Schools has the most schools that are accredited with conditions with nine. Last year, that number for the school district was only six.

Below is a list of area schools and their accreditation status:

  • Alleghany County Public Schools — Clifton Middle School and Alleghany High School are both accredited with conditions
  • Amherst County Public Schools — Fully Accredited
  • Appomattox County Public Schools — Fully Accredited
  • Bath County Public Schools —  Fully Accredited
  • Bedford County Public Schools — Liberty Middle School is accredited with conditions
  • Bland County Public Schools — Fully Accredited
  • Botetourt County Public Schools — Fully Accredited
  • Buena Vista City Public Schools — Fully Accredited
  • Campbell County Public Schools — Fully Accredited
  • Carroll County Public Schools — Fully Accredited
  • Charlotte County Public Schools — Fully Accredited
  • Covington City Public Schools — Edgemont Primary School is accredited with conditions
  • Craig County Public Schools — Fully Accredited
  • Danville City Public Schools
    • Accredited with Conditions
      • Elementary schools
        • Edwin A. Gibson
        • G.L.H. Johnson
        • Park Avenue
        • Schoolfield
        • Woodberry Hills
        • Woodrow Wilson Intermediate
      • Middle schools
        • O. Trent Bonner
        • Westwood
      • George Washington High School
    • Accredited
      • Forest Hills Elementary
      • Galileo Magnet High School
  • Floyd County Public Schools — Fully Accredited
  • Franklin County Public Schools — Gereau Center for Applied Technology & Career Exploration is accredited with conditions
  • Galax City Public Schools — Fully Accredited
  • Giles County Public Schools — Fully Accredited
  • Grayson County Public Schools — Fully Accredited
  • Halifax County Public Schools — Fully Accredited
  • Henry County Public Schools — Fully Accredited
  • Highland County Public Schools — Fully Accredited
  • Lynchburg City Public Schools
    • Accredited with Conditions
      • Robert S. Payne Elementary School
      • Linkhorne Middle School
      • Sandusky Middle School
  • Martinsville City Public Schools — Fully Accredited
  • Montgomery County Public Schools  — Shawsville Middle School is accredited with conditions
  • Patrick County Public Schools — Fully Accredited
  • Pittsylvania County Public Schools — Fully Accredited
  • Pulaski County Public Schools — Pulaski Middle School is accredited with conditions
  • Radford City Public Schools — Fully Accredited
  • Roanoke City Public Schools  — Fully Accredited
  • Roanoke County Public Schools — Fully Accredited
  • Rockbridge County Public Schools — Fully Accredited
  • Salem City Public Schools  — Fully Accredited
  • Wythe County Public Schools — Fully Accredited