Two Henrico schools earn state awards for exemplary academic performance

The Virginia Board of Education has recognized Rivers Edge Elementary and Elizabeth Holladay Elementary for academic success and improvement with the 2023 Exemplar Performance Awards.

The BOE awarded 142 schools and seven school divisions across the state for the 2022-2023 accreditation year, the first time since the 2019-2020 school year due to the pandemic. The awards, based on 2021-2022 school year data, recognized schools that exceeded or improved in academic performance and school quality, as well as schools using innovative practices.

Rivers Edge Elementary was one of 48 schools that received the Highest Achievement Award, recognizing schools that surpassed board-established academic requirements. Elizabeth Holladay Elementary was recognized as one of the 93 schools that increased achievement with the Continuous Improvement Award.

The BOE also recognized seven school divisions and one school for practices such as integrated STEM learning, retaining high-quality teachers or engaging families with the Innovative Practice Award.

To receive the Highest Achievement Award, a school must be accredited, meet state benchmarks in reading, math and science and have all student groups meet state benchmarks in reading and math, and have no more than five or ten percentage points between the lowest performing group and all other students in the school.

Schools that receive the Continuous Improvement Award can be accredited or accredited with conditions and must demonstrate at least one of three achievements: an increase in the combined rate for math, reading and science, an increase in the combined rate for two or more student groups in reading and math, or an increase in the Graduation and Completion Index for each of the past three years.

The criteria for both the highest achieving and continuous improvement awards were amended for the 2022-2023 award year to remove chronic absenteeism criteria.

All accreditation-eligible schools that implement a creative alternative practice based on board criteria for at least two years can qualify for the Innovative Practice Award.

Board recognitions for awarded schools and divisions may include public announcements, tangible rewards, waivers of certain board regulations, exemptions from certain reporting requirements or other commendations.

The Virginia schools and school divisions that received the 2023 Exemplar Performance Awards are listed in this document.

Both the highest achieving and continuous improvement awards criteria were amended for 2022-2023 awards (based on 2021-2022 school year data) to remove chronic absenteeism criteria since 2021-2022 school year chronic absenteeism data was not used in accreditation calculations for 2021-2022.