LOW MOOR, VA (VR) – School Quality Profiles announcing accreditation results at the school level were announced on September 22, 2022, by the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE), and we are pleased with the results for Alleghany Highlands Public Schools.
School Quality Profiles reflect SOL pass rates and overall accreditation as well as additional metrics. The results reflect tremendous efforts on behalf of students, families, staff, and our full community.
Current school accreditation is based on student performance for the 2021-2022 school year when the COVID-19 pandemic continued to impact public education. Like most school divisions across the Commonwealth, our schools in the Alleghany Highlands were impacted by the pandemic, student attendance, and virtual learning. Accreditation is based on performance in academic core areas, attendance, and other variables; accreditation is not calculated for Career and Technical Education centers such as Jackson River Technical Center (JRTC).
All division elementary schools are fully accredited as is Clifton Middle School. Alleghany High school is accredited with conditions, and Covington High School is accredited through what is commonly described as triennial accreditation. Triennial accreditation is a process by which a school that is accredited for three consecutive years remains accredited for three consecutive years.
Navigating the lingering impact of the pandemic has been challenging to everyone involved in public education, and the fact that our schools have performed well is testament to the hard work and dedication of our staff and teachers. Alleghany High School (accredited with conditions) and Covington High School will conduct an academic review this school year in collaboration with the VDOE Office of School Quality as a step towards greater achievement, and the teachers and staff at all our schools are continually assessing ways for improving instruction to achieve greater results in the classrooms.
Edgemont Primary School (now Jeter-Watson Elementary School) and Sharon Elementary School are examples of the ingenuity of our teachers and staff. These schools made the highest gains in the state on SOL pass rates from 2019-2022 relative to other years. Alleghany Highlands Public Schools ranked third overall in pass rate gains among a consortium of approximately 300 public schools (40-plus divisions and growing) in Virginia working together to improve student achievement as measured by the SOLs. This achievement resulted from teamwork involving administrators, teachers, students, parents, and the community.
Much work remains to be done and we are proud of our teachers and how hard they have worked to provide our students with high-quality instruction. We are excited to provide our students with in-person instruction without disruptions this year and we are working to address chronic absenteeism that is hindering some of our students from learning. As part of the work on chronic absenteeism, AHPS has invested additional resources to help stress the importance of school attendance whenever possible for each child.
“Simply asking our children to explain a concept they learned in school and reminding them to attend school whenever practical for them is great encouragement to all our kids in the community,” said school division leaders Kim Halterman and Melinda Snead-Johnson. “We encourage all of the adults in the community to cheer on our kids in attending school and ask them about what they know.”
This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.