Virginia Department of Education releases accountability ratings: 100% of Hampton schools are accredited without conditions – the highest level rating of accreditation

State accountability results released by the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) indicate students in Hampton City Schools (HCS) continue to make improvements in academic achievement, as measured by the state’s accountability system. 100% of Hampton City schools are accredited without conditions, the highest level rating of accreditation.

This means all 18 elementary schools, five middle schools, four high schools, and both PreK-8 schools in Hampton City Schools are fully accredited without conditions.

HCS outperformed neighboring school divisions in the region for those divisions who serve students of similar demographics.

 

 

Additionally, of the 15 school divisions that comprise Region II – which includes all school divisions in Hampton Roads from the Southside, Peninsula, and Eastern Shore – Hampton is one of six school divisions to be fully accredited without conditions. The other five school divisions include Virginia Beach City Public Schools, York County Public Schools, Isle of Wight County Public Schools, Poquoson City Public Schools, and Southampton County Public Schools. 

Superintendent Raymond Haynes shares, “Achieving one hundred percent accreditation could not have been accomplished without the hard work, dedication, and commitment of our teachers, staff members, administrators, students, families, and the community. Our staff has worked exceptionally hard to create our own guaranteed viable curriculum, redesign our instructional program, and produce student progress monitoring data systems to support students academically as well as socially and emotionally. We are proud to be One Community, One Transformation with a focus on excellence with intentionality. As such, we are committed to high expectations, identifying students who are at risk of not being successful and providing the necessary supports, and continuous growth and improvement for every child, every day, whatever it takes.”

When looking at accreditation, there are nine state accountability indicators used to measure school quality. Each accountability indicator must meet or exceed the state standard or perform near the state standard while making sufficient progress. 

The newest accountability indicator is the College, Career, and Civic Readiness Index (CCCRI). This indicator measures successful opportunities provided by a school to their students throughout a student's time in high school. Examples of CCCRI components are Advanced Placement (AP) classes, International Baccalaureate (IB) classes, Dual Enrollment courses, and CTE course sequence completion with industry credentials, as well as participation in work-based or service learning. All four high schools in Hampton City Schools have a Level 1 CCCRI rating, the highest level rating for accreditation. 

Haynes adds, “Our intentional work of transforming teaching and learning at the high school level with the Academies of Hampton continues to provide students with meaningful opportunities that prepare our young people for college, career, and life. This is evident when looking at the new College, Career, and Civic Readiness Index state indicator. For Hampton City Schools to have the highest level rating for accreditation in this indicator, shows that we are making our promise to our students as they graduate the Portrait of a Hampton Graduate.” 

The Virginia Board of Education accreditation standards provide a comprehensive view of school quality while encouraging continuous improvement for all schools and placing increased emphasis on closing achievement gaps. The accreditation standards measure student performance on multiple school-quality indicators; six indicators at the elementary and middle school levels and eight at the high school level. Performance on each school quality indicator is then rated on one of four levels: accredited without conditions, accredited with conditions, accreditation denied, or accreditation withheld.