6 RPS schools no longer among lowest performing in latest VDOE school ratings

Six Richmond Public Schools serving high numbers of low-income students are no longer federally identified as low-performing schools in need of comprehensive support and improvement, according to newly released school ratings from the Virginia Department of Education.

On Tuesday morning, Superintendent Jason Kamras and administrators visited Henry L. Marsh III Elementary, Oak Grove-Bellemeade Elementary, Martin Luther King Jr. Middle, Thomas C. Boushall Middle, Thomas H. Henderson Middle and Armstrong High to tell school leaders the news.

Henderson Middle Principal Allen Vernon told The Richmonder that he and the school’s assistant principals work with school staff to look at student academic data to help “align our instruction with student success.” It led to the school implementing daily tutoring for students who need additional help during the school day.

The administration also brought changes to school culture, Vernon said, adding that the school population has grown by over 100 students over the last two years along with increased membership to the school’s PTA, meaning that there are more parents who are buying in and sending their children to the school. 

“My goal when I first came here – and I shared this with my administrative staff – I wanted all the students who are zoned for Henderson Middle School to feel welcome to want to come to Henderson Middle School,” Vernon said. “Parents are buying into it, that this is a place that’s inclusive and a place that’s safe, and parents are believing in our vision.”

Title I schools – public schools receiving extra federal funding because they serve a higher population of economically disadvantaged students – are identified for federal support based on student performance by three ratings: “targeted support and improvement,” “additional targeted support and improvement,” and “comprehensive support and improvement.” Schools labeled as needing comprehensive support are schools that are the lowest-performing 5% of Title I schools.

Those ratings also contribute to whether the division can exit an academic performance agreement it entered into with the Virginia Board of Education back in 2017. 

Wednesday’s news leaves 13 schools within RPS still needing comprehensive support and improvement this school year, according to the VDOE. Chesterfield County Public Schools has 3 schools federally identified in that category, Henrico County Public Schools has 8 and Hanover County Public Schools has none. 

Oak Grove-Bellemeade Elementary Principal LaToya Draper shared similar sentiments to Vernon, specifically in “creating a culture of excellence with staff, which would then translate to student excellence.”

“I did not necessarily know the culture of the school, but I was charged with, ‘Hey, we want to see some great things happen over at Oak Grove, we want it to be a welcoming place,’” said Draper, who started leading the school in 2023. “I think we have turned that around tremendously.”

The Southside school is one of the 200-day schools in RPS, serving nearly 200 English Learners. The school originally had only three multilingual teachers before RPS hired 55 for the division, as required by the state last year. The school now has six. 

“That has been a game changer for us to be able to have one teacher attached to one grade level to support one group of students who are on the same curriculum,” she said. 

Anne Holton, the 6th District School Board representative overseeing Oak Grove-Bellemeade and MLK Middle, said that the changes aren’t a “one-time wonder,” and are rather “sustained growth over time.” SOL passing rates within the division have increased from last year, and are now close to pre-pandemic rates. 

She also pointed to school leadership as a reason for the schools’ progressing, highlighting leaders like MLK Middle Principal Inett Dabney, who will soon have a 10-year anniversary working at the school. 

The state also provides ratings for schools based on two other accountability systems. The School Performance and Support Framework, a system released late last year, ranks schools on a 100-point scale into four ratings – distinguished, meets expectations, approaching expectations and needs intensive support. These points are determined by SOL results, growth in reading and math, high school graduation rates, chronic absenteeism and English learners’ progress.

Last year, the system identified five Richmond city schools as “distinguished,” nine as “meets expectations,” 23 as “approaching expectations” and five in need of intensive support. Now RPS has nine distinguished schools, eight meeting expectations, 15 approaching expectations, and nine needing intensive support.

Richmond Success Academy and Richmond Career Education Employment Charter School were deemed “too small” to score. 

Schools are also rated based on accreditation. Results for schools accredited this year have not yet been released, but last year 24 out of 44 Richmond schools were fully accredited. 

Contact Reporter Victoria A. Ifatusin at vifatusin@richmonder.org