Local elementary schools receive state honors

Five public schools in Fauquier County received accolades as high-performing Virginia public schools in an announcement Jan. 5 from Governor Bob McDonnell and the Virginia Board of Education.

Bradley and Ritchie Elementary Schools received the “2012 Board of Education Excellence Award,” and Coleman, Greenville and Smith Elementary Schools received the “2012 Board of Education Competence to Excellence Award.”

The awards are part of the Virginia Index of Performance [VIP] incentive program created by the Board of Education in 2007 to recognize schools and divisions that far exceed minimum state and federal accountability standards and achieve excellence goals established by the governor and the board.

Eighty-six Virginia schools earned the Governor’s Award for Educational Excellence, the highest honor in the VIP program. Bradley and Ritchie were among the 188 schools in the Commonwealth earning the second-tier honor – the Board of Education Excellence Award. Recipients of this award met all state and federal accountability benchmarks for at least two consecutive years and made significant progress toward goals for increased student achievement and expanded educational opportunity set by the board.

Coleman, Greenville and Smith were among 171 schools in the Commonwealth earning the Board of Education Competence to Excellence Award. This award recognizes schools that have met all state and federal benchmarks for at least two consecutive years and are making progress toward the goals of the governor and the board.

“The criteria for these awards are becoming more challenging with the Board of Education’s increasing focus on college and career readiness,” said Board of Education President Eleanor Saslaw.

“I congratulate the educators in these schools and divisions for their unwavering commitment to academic excellence and to the success of their students,” Gov. McDonnell said. “They put students first and maintain high expectations for instruction, learning and student achievement.”