Four schools from the York County School Division and three from Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools join a list of 55 Distinguished Title I Schools for “raising the academic achievement of economically disadvantaged students.”
The schools showed high academic performance among economically disadvantaged students, relative to other Title I schools, on the Standards of Learning tests.
To be eligible for the award, the schools must receive funding from Title I, a grant program and subsection of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act passed under former President Lyndon B. Johnson. Title I — heavily modified under the No Child Left Behind Act — is meant to provide educational money targeted at poor and at-risk students.
Bethel Manor Elementary, Dare Elementary, Magruder Elementary and Waller Mill Elementary of YCSD made the list. D.J. Montague Elementary, Matthew Whaley Elementary and Rawls Byrd Elementary of WJCC also received the award.
These schools, along with 48 others, met all state and federal accountability requirements for two years in a row and at least 60 percent of their students passed the reading and mathematics portions of the Standards of Learning tests — curriculum that recently increased in rigor. State accountability, and consequently the award, is based on the SOLs: a set of 36 exams students take over the course of their K-12 education.
Two school divisions, West Point Public Schools and Poquoson Public Schools, earned the Highly Distinguished Title I School Division award. These divisions passed all federal ESEA achievement objectives in English and mathematics, had all schools gain full accreditation for two years in a row and had more than 80 percent of students graduate.
Two Virginia Schools, Thomas Jefferson Elementary of Fall’s Church and Yuma Elementary of Scott County, were named Highly Distinguished Title I schools. These schools exceeded all state and federal accountability measures and had SOL pass rates in English and mathematics at or above the 85th percentile.
Though the awards are national recognition, the Virginia Board of Education provides all 57 schools — 55 distinguished and two highly distinguished — with certificates of recognition.
