Lost in the shuffle of the May graduation season was a great honor being earned by an area school district. The Virginia State Board of Education (VBOE) recognized a small handful of schools that were “doing it best,” including a trio of schools from one smaller county school district that measured up against the biggest districts the Commonwealth has to offer.
There are more than 2,000 K-12 public schools in the state of Virginia. The Virginia State Board of Education said it had only 37 schools earn its ‘highest achievement’ for the Exemplar Performance school awards. Three of those 37 came from the Botetourt County school district. Buchanan, Breckinridge and Eagle Rock elementary schools all exceeded board-established performance requirements in reading, mathematics and science. It’s a tremendous feat for a small school district that saw only Loudoun County and Virginia Beach City districts put more schools on that coveted list.
“The biggest division in the state had two schools represented, and here’s Botetourt with seven elementary schools and three of those schools were recognized for this award, so that was a prideful moment. A lot of our teachers were students here so I think we’re returning home having pride in the school division. They were part of it. It motivates them and makes them work harder. Our instructional staff here does a great job of keeping our schools up-to-date when it comes to curriculum. The new Virginia Literacy Act is gonna be huge for your school divisions, but I think we’re a step ahead when it comes to training teachers, but we just have to keep our foot on the gas,” Botetourt County Schools Superintendent Jonathan Russ said.
There is an attendance component to these awards as well. The awards are based on performance and practices from the 22-23 school session. Dr. Russ said he expects Botetourt County to do well again when the next round of results are released.
In addition to the three Botetourt schools, our area was heavily honored, including elementary schools in Bedford, Carroll, Grayson, Montgomery, Patrick and Pittsylvania Counties and the magnet school in Danville City. Back in Roanoke, Crystal Spring and Mason’s Cove earned top honors along with Rural Retreat Elementary.
Area winners of top honors – VDOE Exemplar awards:
- Buchanan Elem.- Botetourt Co.
- Breckinridge Elem. Botetourt Co.
- Eagle Rock Elem. Botetourt Co.
- Forest Elem.- Bedford Co.
- Gladesboro Elem.-Carroll Co.
- Galileo Magnet-Danville City
- Fairview Elem.-Grayson Co.
- Harding Elem.-Montgomery Co.
- Woolwine Elem.-Patrick Co.
- Stony Mill Elem.-Pittsylvania Co.
- Crystal Spring Elem.-Roanoke City
- Mason’s Cove Elem.-Roanoke Co.
- Rural Retreat Elem.-Wythe Co.
Source: WSLS News 10
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