All Area Schools Accredited Under New System
All three local school divisions — Rockbridge County, Lexington and Buena Vista — are fully accredited under Virginia’s most recent school accountability and accreditation results, but the state’s new performance framework paints a more detailed picture of where schools are excelling and where they will face closer scrutiny.
Under the School Performance and Support Framework (SPSF), the state assigns schools an overall performance label — such as “Distinguished,” “On Track,” or “Off Track” — based on multiple indicators including student mastery, student growth, graduation, and readiness. The new approach is intended to provide more nuance than Virginia’s previous accreditation model, which largely centered on whether a school met minimum benchmarks.
Local superintendents say the framework has real benefits, particularly in its emphasis on student growth, but they also caution that the system can be confusing to families and, in smaller divisions, vulnerable to swings caused by small student populations and subgroup calculations.
The New Scoring
Virginia’s new SPSF system moves beyond a single accreditation label by assigning schools a performance rating based on a 0–100 index score and an accompanying label.
In general terms: “Distinguished” indicates a school is exceeding state expectations; “On Track” indicates the school is meeting expectations or making appropriate progress toward benchmarks; and “Off Track” indicates performance that does not meet state expectations and typically brings additional state attention and support.
Schools can also be placed into deeper support categories, including Needs Support and Needs Intensive Support, depending on performance and other federal designations.
The system is intertwined with federal school improvement rules, including Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI). A school can be identified for TSI when one or more student subgroups (such as students with disabilities, English learners, or economically disadvantaged students) fall below state benchmarks.
As Buena Vista Superintendent Heather Ault emphasized, the subgroup size threshold can matter enormously in small divisions.
“The minimum number of students required for a student group to be included in calculations has been lowered from 30 to 15,” Ault said. “This increases the likelihood that small fluctuations can significantly impact overall school ratings.”
Ault also noted that the system’s TSI rules can produce results that feel out of proportion to a school’s overall performance.
“If even one student group of 15 or more students does not meet annually changing benchmarks, the school’s overall designation is reduced by one level,” she said. “While I strongly support accountability for all student groups, lowering a school’s overall rating based on a single student group does not always provide a complete or balanced picture of the progress being made across the entire school community.”
Lexington Superintendent Rebecca Walters echoed that concern from a different angle, describing how subgroup size and weighting rules can shift how a school’s score is calculated — potentially changing its label.
“In addition, our small student population plays a big part in the overall calculations,” Walters said. “Even one more passing test score could have moved our overall rating from ‘On Track’ to ‘Distinguished.’”
In Rockbridge
Rockbridge County Public Schools Superintendent Phillip Thompson said the division’s results were “very positive,” pointing first to full accreditation across all schools.
“Having all of our schools fully accredited is a significant achievement and reflects consistent work by students, staff, and families over several years, including during and after the disruption of the pandemic,” Thompson said.
Under the SPSF, Rockbridge County High School earned a “Distinguished” rating, while the division’s other schools were largely rated “On Track.” One elementary school, Natural Bridge Elementary, was rated “Off Track.”
Thompson said the high school’s recognition signals that it is exceeding state expectations across multiple areas.
“Rockbridge County High School’s ‘Distinguished’ rating is noteworthy because it indicates the school is exceeding state expectations in many areas,” he said. He also noted the rating places the school alongside many other Virginia high schools. “I am proud of that recognition … as it reflects a solid range of academic and career pathways for students and strong outcomes in terms of graduation and postsecondary readiness.”
He emphasized that the “On Track” label is not a warning sign; it’s essentially the state’s category for schools that are meeting benchmarks.
At the same time, Thompson said the new data highlight areas where the division is keeping a close watch, particularly early literacy and math, and subgroup achievement gaps.
In addition, he said the division is focusing on growth indicators alongside proficiency, one of the major shifts in the new state system.
“Some students begin below grade level and may not yet show as ‘proficient’ on state tests, but the growth data tell us whether they are on a trajectory to catch up,” he said. “The new accountability system makes that type of progress more visible, and we are using those indicators to guide instruction and support.”
Overall, Thompson said the division sees the results as encouraging, but not a reason to relax.
“We are pleased with the outcomes, and committed to using the data to strengthen our work, especially for student groups that still need more targeted support,” he said.
On the topic of the new accountability system, Thompson called SPSF a “significant shift” and said it brings both “strengths and challenges.”
“On the positive side, it gives us a more nuanced picture of school performance,” he said. “Rather than relying on a single accreditation label, the new categories … break down how schools are doing across multiple measures, including achievement, growth, graduation, and more.”
The heavier emphasis on growth is a major improvement in his opinion. “Schools that are making strong gains with students who started behind now receive more recognition than they did under the old system,” he said.
But he warned that new terminology and structure will take time to become meaningful to families and the broader public.
“They can be confusing for families and community members at first,” he said, adding that divisions will need to communicate clearly about what the ratings do, and do not, mean.
He also pointed out that, because the framework is new, there is not much historical context yet.
“It will take several years of results before we can see longer term patterns and develop a solid sense of what counts as ‘typical’ versus ‘exceptional’ performance within this system,” he said.
Finally, Thompson cautioned against treating state ratings as a full portrait of school quality.
“Test-based measures matter, but they do not capture everything we value … Things such as school climate, student well-being, fine arts, and extracurricular opportunities are important as well,” he said.
In Lexington
Lexington Superintendent Walters said the division was pleased to share the new results publicly earlier this year and emphasized that both Lexington schools remain fully accredited.
Under SPSF, Harrington Waddell Elementary School earned a “Distinguished” rating, while Lylburn Downing Middle School earned an “On Track” rating.
“These are incredible results that reflect the continued dedication and hard work of our school community as we support our students, families, and educators in Lexington City,” Walters said.
Walters also highlighted statewide patterns she finds curious under the new system, particularly how frequently high schools receive the top rating compared with middle schools.
“We have found it interesting that only 9% of middle schools in Virginia earned a ‘Distinguished’ rating, while 65% of high schools earned the highest level rating,” she said.
For Lexington’s middle school, Walters said the rating was influenced by subgroup size rules and the way the state weights the score when certain groups fall below the minimum count for inclusion.
“Our overall rating was impacted by the small number of English Language students we have in grades 6-8,” she said. The calculation for the indicators of “mastery” and “growth” changed at Lylburn Downing because the division has fewer than 15 English language learning students, below the minimum number required for subgroup data to be included in the state’s calculations.
Walters said Lexington’s students performed well on the ACCESS for ELLs assessment, the yearly test that measures English proficiency, but because their test results are too minimal to be calculated, the state adjusted the weighting of the school’s accountability indicators.
“Therefore, mastery is calculated at 50% for LDMS instead of 60%, and growth becomes 30% instead of 20% like at most other Virginia middle schools,” she said.
She said that shift in weighting can affect schools where a high percentage of students are already passing SOL tests.
“This adjusted percentage impacted our overall rating as many of our students received higher scores and passed their SOL which made it difficult for our school to meet the expected ‘GROWTH’ levels,” she said.
In small schools, Walters added, even a handful of test outcomes can shift a rating label.
“Even one more passing test score could have moved our overall rating from ‘On Track’ to ‘Distinguished’,” she said. “We are hopeful that VDOE will look carefully at the percentages assigned to each scored area and how the calculations are determined … to ensure the new SPSF scoring and rating systems are indeed reflective of the performance levels at middle school.”
Walters also emphasized that test-based measures should not be treated as the entire story of a school.
“As I am always purposeful in sharing … SOL test results do not paint the full picture of how our students are achieving and growing throughout the school year,” she said, “nor do they … accurately reflect the incredible work our teachers and staff do to support the educational experience of the whole child.”
Still, Walters said the division will use the data as a planning tool.
In Buena Vista
Buena Vista Superintendent Ault said the division is encouraged by its results under the new framework while keeping a close eye on areas needing improvement.
Under the new framework, Parry McCluer Middle School and Parry McCluer High School were rated “On Track.” Enderly Heights Elementary fell into an “Off Track” category with deeper support needs under the framework, and F.W. Kling Jr. Elementary was identified for Needs Intensive Support within the state’s support categories.
“Overall, we are pleased with our schools’ performance under Virginia’s new accountability system while also recognizing important opportunities for continued growth,” Ault said.
Ault said the results reflect “strong achievement” in reading and math mastery and highlighted the performance of Parry McCluer Middle School.
“We are also proud of the strong Readiness results at Parry McCluer High School,” Ault continued. “This measure reflects students’ preparation for life after graduation and highlights the collective efforts of our high school staff to provide multiple pathways and meaningful opportunities for every learner.
“We remain focused on strengthening student growth scores at Parry McCluer High School and Enderly Heights Elementary School, as continuous improvement is central to our work,” she said.
Ault said SPSF is “a meaningful improvement” over the previous model, “particularly in its emphasis on both growth and mastery for every student,” she said. “It recognizes varying levels of achievement and progress.”
She cited a specific benefit that has received less public attention: high-performing students being expected to show growth as well.
“Students who have historically performed at high levels are now recognized for continuing to grow — an area the prior system did not adequately capture,” she said.
But she argued the system can create disproportionate consequences in small divisions due to subgroup size and TSI rules.
“The minimum number of students required for a student group to be included in calculations has been lowered from 30 to 15,” Ault said. “This increases the likelihood that small fluctuations can significantly impact overall school ratings.”
She also described how a single subgroup can lower an overall rating even when the broader school performs well.
“While I strongly support accountability for all student groups, lowering a school’s overall rating based on a single student group does not always provide a complete or balanced picture,” she said.
Ault said she expects ongoing revisions from the state.
“It has been shared that the Virginia Board of Education will continue refining the new accountability system,” she said, adding that she is hopeful that further adjustments will help the system better reflect “the dedication, progress, and hard work taking place in our schools each day.”
