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Six Henrico County schools – all in Eastern Henrico – regained state accreditation Sept. 27, according to information released by the Virginia Department of Education.
In total, 60 of Henrico's 67 public schools (90 percent) now are fully accredited. The other seven are accredited with conditions, meaning they have fallen short of full accreditation in at least one area. (Elementary and middle schools are judged upon six indicators, while high schools are judged upon nine.)
The schools that regained accreditation are:
• Fair Oaks ES;
• An Achievable Dream Certified Academy at Highland Springs ES;
• Laburnum ES;
• Mehfoud ES;
• Montrose ES;
• Varina ES.
All high schools are fully accredited. The seven schools accredited with conditions are:
• Glen Lea ES;
• Ratcliffe ES;
• Brookland MS;
• Elko MS;
• Fairfield MS;
• Rolfe MS;
• Wilder MS.
Sixteen Henrico schools have regained state accreditation in the past three years. Since 2014-15, the number of Henrico schools designated as not accredited or accredited with a qualifier has dropped from 28 to seven.
"What we see in today’s new ratings is evidence that the hard work of our students, their families and our schools is paying off," Henrico Superintendent Amy Cashwell said.
Among the schools that regained their accreditation:
• Fair Oaks Elementary School saw a 5-percentage-point gain in math, while students with disabilities at the school gained 15 percentage points in math and 11 in English;
• Laburnum and Highland Springs elementary schools both witness gains of nine percentage points in science;
• Montrose Elementary witnessed a three percentage-point gain in English;
• Mehfoud and Varina elementaries each gained four percentage points in English.
The Department of Education altered its accreditation descriptions this year, making changes that are designed to reward schools that are demonstrating progress.
The new system describes schools either as "accredited," "accredited with conditions" or "accreditation denied.”
The three-pronged scale rates schools with level one, to or three for each of the indicators it considers. Accredited schools are at levels one or two for each indicator, while those accredited with conditions have one or more level three ratings. Accreditation is denied for schools that have failed to adopt or fully implement the required corrective actions to address level three ratings.
The previous DOE accreditation system ranked schools in three categories – "fully accredited," "accreditation denied,” or “partially accredited,” with qualifiers such as “approaching benchmark,” “improving,” “warned” or “reconstituted.”
