Yesterday, we celebrated “Purple Up! For Military Kids” day in Virginia. This day is set aside for the Nation to show their support and appreciation for military-connected students and their strength and sacrifices. Here in Virginia, we are proud to be home to Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, Navy, Space Force, and National Guard and Reserve families.

As I visit schools, I am especially proud of our Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) programs. I recently had the pleasure of visiting and thanking Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Schmetzer and Master Sergeant Monge for their support of Hanover’s Atlee High School’s Cadet Corps. I also enjoyed my visit with Grassland High School, which is recognized as a Purple Star School.  Chesapeake Public Schools are recognized as a Purple Star division, and I am incredibly appreciative that we have schools and divisions leaning into the Purple Star programing as these services are critical for our military-connected youth. VDOE has a toolkit, Month of the Military Child , for schools to use year-round to support military families with communication tools and resources for support.  I encourage all divisions to continue to support the children of the men and women who support and protect our nation.

In addition, I have had the opportunity to witness impressive career and technical centers over the past two weeks.  Culpeper has built an exciting, state of the art Technical Center fostered in community partnerships with a “future-ready” focus. The Chesapeake Technical Center provides both coursework and apprenticeships ensuring students are not only Day One ready, but also have high-quality, industry specific job offers before they graduate.

I was also proud to visit Atlee High School and recognize Avanti Yamamoto as the Region 1 Teacher of the Year. Her students shared with me how she makes math relevant and applies her lessons to real life. Mrs. Yamamoto challenges all her students to not just learn the rigorous mathematical concepts in her classroom but to make real world connections. In Region 5’s Bedford County, Genevieve Weaver is doing exciting work to build collaborative adapted special education classrooms tailored to her students’ abilities. The parents and peers shared how Mrs. Weaver has helped shaped the culture at her school with her enthusiastic belief that everyone can learn!  Region 6 Teacher of the Year Candace Carrier is a firm believer in leadership by example. As a CTE teacher in Montgomery County, Mrs. Carrier empowers her students with important career skills and serves as an example of an untraditional CTE teacher excelling in the agricultural mechanics and welding industries. In Region 7, Andy Holmes in Smyth County has revitalized the band programs at Marion Senior High School and Marion Middle School and creates an environment that fosters student leadership and encourages them to have the same high expectations for themselves that he has for them!

Spring has been a great time to visit schools in every region of our beautiful Commonwealth and join in surprise celebrations for our regional teachers of the year.  It has been great to see so many fantastic educators and students over the past few weeks as we continue our work to #ElevateEducatorsVA!  

School divisions that have opted into Zearn Math for Virginia ALL In Tutoring are invited to join live training sessions with the Zearn team this spring. In these sessions, Zearn facilitators will guide Virginia educators and leaders through Zearn’s approach to math learning, materials to support tutoring sessions, and how to navigate the Zearn platform. 

• Upcoming opportunities for Educators are April 24, May 22, and June 14. 
• Upcoming opportunity for Leaders is April 23.  

Sign up here for live training to support high-intensity tutoring programs. 

VDOE’s Literacy Network Implementation Series is designed to support Division leaders in developing and implementing effective strategies to achieve the goals of the Virginia Literacy Act and increase literacy outcomes for students across Virginia.   

Session #4 will focus on deepening supports for teachers, professional learning, and collaborative planning.  Participants will engage in conversations around effective Year 1 high quality instructional material implementation, develop an understanding of the difference between preparing to teach with HQIM and traditional planning, and identify and reflect on structures and systems necessary in supporting effective intellectual preparation for HQIM. Lastly, school divisions will continue developing their Division Literacy Plan with their teams, using guidance from the Playbook.  

Attendance is essential for designated teams to successfully implement the Virginia Literacy Act. We look forward to hosting division teams at the dates and locations posted below. 

The Virginia Department of Education is opening the review of textbooks for grades 6-12 English reading and writing.  The links included below provide directions to publishers for the 2024 English Textbook State Review Process. As such, VDOE invites publishers to indicate their intent to submit textbooks for the approval process by returning the completed Publisher Submission Forms which include the Publisher’s Intent to Submit Form, State Textbook Information Form, and Textbook Publisher’s Certification and Agreement as the initial step in Virginia’s Textbook Approval Process. 

VDOE will host an information webinar for all interested publishers on Monday, April 22, 2024, at 1 p.m. Please register to attend using this link. 

The textbook approval process places primary responsibility on publishers to ensure the accuracy of their textbooks.  The documents that outline the process are available on the Virginia Department of Education’s Website for Textbook Review & Approval.  

Completed Intent to Submit Forms, State Textbook Information Forms, and Textbook Publishers Certification and Agreement Forms are due to the VDOE by Wednesday, May 1, 2024.  

The Office of Accountability is providing technical assistance through an upcoming webinar on Tuesday, April 23, at 9 a.m. and Tuesday, April 30, at 1 p.m. with information and updates on the State Accreditation and Federal Accountability systems based on school year 2023-2024 data. This webinar is intended for division leaders, and it will only focus on the current systems and will not include information on recent Board action to design the accountability and accreditation systems. The webinar will be recorded, and associated materials will be made available.  

Registration information for the webinar was sent to contacts for Accountability in the Educational Registry Application within the Single Sign-on for Web Systems (SSWS).  

We hope you can join us for one of these webinars! 

All newly hired school nutrition program directors (hired on or after July 1, 2023) must meet the minimum hiring standards and attend the New Directors Academy. Professional standards for directors, including education requirements and annual training requirements, can be found in the USDA Guide to Professional Standards for School Nutrition Programs. 

The New Director Academy is being provided in-person on May 20-24, 2024, in Conference Room B located on the first floor of the James Monroe Building, 101 North 14th Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219.  

Participants must register for the training by completing the online registration form. Participants must attend all sessions in person to receive credit for the training. 

Additional details about school nutrition director hiring standards, professional development, and the New Directors Academy can be found in SNP Memo No. 2023-2024-73 on the VDOE-SNP website.  

VDOE will host a webinar for all Early Childhood Care and Education stakeholders about the proposed updates to the 2024-2025 VQB5 Guidelines on Tuesday, April 23 at 2 p.m. This webinar will be recorded.  

VQB5 Update on 2024-2025 Proposed Guidelines Webinar
Tuesday, April 23 at 2 p.m.  
Register for the webinar here. 

VDOE will also retire Schedule C (School Nurses) from the Excel template of the data collection.  

Pursuant to Section 22.1-81, Code of Virginia, the Superintendent of Public Instruction will establish the deadline for the ASR collection.  Information related to the FY2024 ASR data collection will be communicated via the VDOE Education Update Newsletter by the end of July. 

If you have any questions about the ASR data collection process, please contact the Budget Office at doebudgetoffice@doe.virginia.gov or (804) 225-2025.