Lunenburg County Public Schools (LCPS) announced in a news release that each of its schools, including Victoria and Kenbridge Elementary, Lunenburg Middle and Central High School have been fully accredited.

According to the release, The Virginia Board of Education has revised its accreditation standards to provide a more comprehensive view of school quality while encouraging continuous improvement for all schools.

School accreditation ratings for the 2018-2019 school year will be the first to reflect the new approach to accountability. The revised Standards of Accreditation (SOA) measure performance on multiple school-quality indicators, not just on overall student achievement on state tests, the release cited.

School-quality indicators provide information on overall student achievement, achievement gaps and student engagement.

According to the release, elementary and middle schools are evaluated on the following indicators under the new accountability system, which include overall proficiency and growth in English reading/writing achievement (including progress of English learners toward English-language proficiency); overall proficiency and growth in mathematics; overall proficiency in science; English achievement gaps among student groups; mathematics achievement gaps among student groups and absenteeism.

High schools are evaluated on the following school quality indicators under the new SOA, overall proficiency in English reading/writing and progress of English learners toward English-language proficiency; overall proficiency in mathematics; overall proficiency in science; English achievement gaps among student groups; mathematics achievement gaps among student groups; graduation and completion index; dropout rate; absenteeism and college, career and civic readiness (effective 2021-2022).

Performance on each school-quality indicator is rated at one of three levels: Level One (meets or exceeds the state standard for the indicator or making adequate improvement), Level Two (near the standard or making sufficient progress) or Level Three (below the standard), the release cited.

The new standards also implement the “Profile of a Virginia Graduate,” which includes knowledge, skills, attributes and experiences identified by employers, higher education and the Virginia Board of Education as critical for future success in the workplace and in college. These include academic content knowledge, workplace skills, community and civic responsibility and career planning.

Also embedded within the Profile of a Virginia Graduate is the expectation that students will demonstrate foundational skills in what are known as the “Five C’s”: critical thinking, creative thinking, communication, collaboration and citizenship. Dawn Bacon, Director of Curriculum & Instruction, reported that while LCPS celebrated the success of all four schools for being accredited, the school system is continually analyzing data at the division and school levels.

The division and each school developed an improvement plan to support continuous improvement.

“This year we will focus on boosting our gap group performance in math and decreasing the high school dropout rate,” the release cited.

The Division Comprehensive Plan can be found on the website at: lunenburgcountyschools.org.