It’s Homecoming time throughout much of the Commonwealth, and I was pleased to share in Pulaski High School’s celebrations as they kicked off the week.  I appreciated the opportunity to participate in their Homecoming parade and am looking forward to attending this Friday night’s game versus Blacksburg High.  We’re now fully into fall, and there’s no better way to spent Friday night than cheering on your home team.  

While in Southwest Virginia this week, I was pleased to have the opportunity to visit with Superintendent Gina Wohlford and Norton City Schools and congratulate them on the commonwealth-leading work they are doing to reduce chronic absenteeism.  They have truly embraced the importance of making sure that each child is in school every day. I had the pleasure of thanking Norton City’s counseling staff, principals, and the Community in Schools Attendance Coordinators for having made the highest attendance gains in the state. 

#AttendanceMatters more than ever. Thank you for the work that so many of you are doing to reduce chronic absenteeism in your divisions. We continue to look for ways to support your efforts to help ensure that every student attends school every day. 

In appreciation, 

Lisa 

The Virginia General Assembly appropriated $350,000 to provide tuition assistance for teachers to become qualified to teach dual enrollment and high demand industry credential courses in local school divisions. VDOE has collaborated with the Virginia Office of Education Economics to use the current High Demand Occupations Dashboard to highlight regionally high demand occupations for this scholarship opportunity. This tuition scholarship can also be used for high school teachers to pursue the required coursework above their current credentials in order to be considered faculty and eligible to teach dual enrollment.  

School divisions are encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity through the 2024-2025 school year. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis through March 14, 2025. School divisions should refer to the grant application for additional details including the specific grant application process, guidelines around eligibility, and payment processes.

The STEM+C Team Competition Grant application window has been extended to October 25, 2024. This grant provides funding for schools planning to start a STEM+C competition team (Year 1) or expand existing competition teams (Year 2). Schools may apply for up to $5,000 of funding per team to support up to two competition teams in the 2024-2025 academic year. Schools may receive a maximum funding amount of $10,000. The purpose of the STEM competition team is to:   

• Increase awareness of careers in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and computer science (STEM+C) among teachers and students.   
• Engage students in extracurricular, STEM+C-related team-building activities through problem-based, project-based team competitions.   
• Foster STEM+C competition team development and growth throughout Virginia.   
• Focus on STEM+C literacy skills through hands-on experiences. These experiences will include problem-driven integrated STEM+C activities that use collaboration, communication, creativity, critical thinking, and ethics to explore the challenges and opportunities of the STEM+C Competition Team Grant Initiative.   

The 2024 Guidelines for the General Requirements of Qualifying for the STEM+C Competition Grant and the STEM+C Competition Grant Application (Year 1) can be found on the VDOE STEM webpage. STEM+C Competition Grant Application (Year 2) will be sent directly to schools that had a Year 1 grant in 2023-2024. Completed applications are due to the VDOE Office of STEM on or before 4 p.m. on October 25, 2024.     

For questions concerning the STEM Competition Grant or on STEM education, please reach out to Anne Petersen, STEM Director (Anne.Petersen@doe.virginia.gov).

The Institute of Education Policy at Johns Hopkins School of Education released the Teacher Survey of Curriculum Use on behalf of the Virginia Department of Education to division superintendents on September 25, 2024, for all K-12 ELA and mathematics classroom teachers. The survey response collection window has been extended to November 1, 2024. These data will be used to inform future decisions about K-12 ELA and mathematics instructional materials and resources used to support the curriculum in the Commonwealth.  

The Department would like your assistance to support a high teacher response rate because this will provide actionable data to include teachers’ voices about their intentional use of current instructional materials, provide baseline data that enables targeted curriculum-based professional learning support, and to engage in responsive long-term planning in selecting high-quality instructional materials (HQIM). Division leaders will receive division-level results as long as the number of teachers submitting is statistically significant, so divisions should strive for at least 50% of teachers to complete the survey. This data will help divisions compare their division to others in the state and receive important information to support their teachers in instruction.  

Division superintendents are asked to share with key division leaders to ensure that the survey is disseminated to and completed by K-12 ELA and mathematics classroom teachers. 

In November, the VDOE will be hosting two WIDA assessment webinars for test administrators: the WIDA ACCESS for ELLs Online and the WIDA Alternate ACCESS. These webinars provide an overview of each assessment and are not a replacement for the required annual test administrator training accessed through the WIDA Secure Portal which include the Alternate ACCESS: Administration and Scoring and the Online ACCESS for ELLs: Administration. If you are a new test administrator and need a WIDA Secure Portal login, please reach out to your Division Director of Testing.  

The registration deadline for the webinars below is November 8, 2024. Please use this link to register.  

WIDA ACCESS for ELLs Online for Test Administrators  

November 11, 2024 

10  – 11:30 a.m. 

This webinar is an overview of the features of ACCESS for ELLs Online, requirements and resources for training, and identifies the responsibilities of a test administrator.   

WIDA Alternate ACCESS  

November 14, 2024 

3 – 5 p.m.

This webinar highlights WIDA Alternate ACCESS resources for training and identifies important aspects of test administration such as accessibility, test accommodations, and procedures for scoring.    

Effective September 6, 2024, the Department of General Services awarded two new optional use dairy contracts to cover fresh dairy products and juices. School food authorities may, at their discretion, participate in these contracts without conducting further procurement activities as the contracts have been reviewed by the Virginia Department of Education, Office of School and Community Nutrition Programs for compliance with 2 CFR 200.318-326. 

The awarded vendors are PET Dairy (contract #CTR030137-2) and Marva Maid (contract #CTR030138-2). To review the contracts:  

• Visit the eVA website 
• Hover over the Transparency tab 
• Select “Search Orders, Suppliers & Contracts”  
• Type in the contract numbers  

Contact information for ordering and delivery is included in VDOE-SCNP Director’s memo #2024-2025-35. 

Current dairy pricing will be updated monthly on the Virginia Distribution Center website for review. 

The federal 2024 SUN Bucks program, which provided a one-time benefit of $120 per child to over 700,000 eligible children across Virginia, concluded on September 30, 2024. The program will relaunch in 2025, giving eligible families the opportunity to purchase fresh and nutritious foods for their children in the summer months. Please review the Virginia Department of Education, Office of School and Community Nutrition Programs Director’s Memo #2024-2025-37 for more information on next steps for Virginia SUN Bucks. 

Since the program call center is now closed, families are encouraged to visit Virginia CommonHelp or call 855-635-4370 for questions about food assistance or applications for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. If families have questions regarding being denied Virginia SUN Bucks and want to appeal that decision, please refer them to the Appeals FAQs for more information.

The Virginia Department of Education, Office of School and Community Nutrition Programs is hosting the next New Director’s Academy: Introduction to School Nutrition Leadership on December 9-12, 2024, at ECPI University in Glen Allen, VA. Attendance is mandatory for all new (those who have not taken the training in their new role or division) school nutrition program directors in Virginia and recommended for aspiring directors and interested staff. Registration is open until close of business on November 1, 2024. 

This year's Academy introduces a new format that includes one day of hands-on training specific to Virginia, followed by three days of classroom training provided by the Institute of Child Nutrition. Additionally, the VDOE-SCNP will offer a mentoring program for newly appointed directors during the Academy. 

There is no fee for the course and lunch will be provided each day. Participants are required to register online by the close of business on November 1, 2024, and must attend all sessions in person to receive training credit. Further details, including the agenda, will be shared post-registration. 

For more information regarding hiring standards and annual training requirements for school nutrition program directors, refer to SCNP Director’s Memo # 2024-2025-24 and SCNP Director’s Memo #2024-2025-40. 

Awarded school divisions will be contacted with detailed information on next steps. 

See SCNP Director’s memo #2024-2025-39 Attachment A for the equipment funded at each school and the award amounts. 

The VQB5 Quality Profile Website includes quality information for over 3,100 publicly-funded sites, including child care centers, family day homes, Head Start, and public school preschool, as well as for privately-funded sites that participated in the VQB5 measurement and improvement system last year.  

• Check out the new website at EarlyChildhoodQuality.doe.virginia.gov   

• Read the VDOE News Release: Virginia Launches New Online Portal to Help Families Learn about Quality Options  

Divisions participating in the Virginia Preschool Initiative (VPI) must report program and budget data for school year 2024-2025 through the Fall Verification Report, which is due on November 11, 2024. Please thoroughly review this memo  before submitting your division’s VPI Fall Verification Report via the Single Sign-On for Web Systems (SSWS) portal.   

Through a focus on advancing effective interactions and instruction, VPI programs help ensure all Virginia children enter school fully prepared for success. The VPI Guidelines describe all programmatic requirements for VPI and are available on the VDOE website.

Through the action of a committed group of youth with disabilities, the General Assembly officially recognized October as Disability History and Awareness Month (DHAM). The youth also developed this credo: Disability history education and awareness will promote positive attitudes in schools creating a culture of mutual respect, understanding, and equal opportunities for all.  

This month highlights the success that Virginians with disabilities have had in reducing the barriers they face to employment, healthcare, education, and community living; it also helps raise awareness of the ongoing contributions and achievements they bring to the Commonwealth throughout the year.  

We encourage you to share what you are doing to recognize DHAM through your social media channels and by contacting Dr. Richard Chapman, Assistant Director for Disability Leadership, Partnership for People with Disabilities at Virginia Commonwealth University, at Chapmanra@vcu.edu; or Dr. Sarah Lineberry, Program Evaluation Associate, Partnership for People with Disabilities at VCU, at Lineberrys2@vcu.edu. 

Applications to be nominated at the state level for the United States Department of Education’s Green Ribbon Schools (GRS) award program are open. The GRS award program is open to public and private K-12 schools, public school divisions, postsecondary institutions, and early learning centers. The program recognizes schools and school divisions that are:  

1. reducing environmental impact and costs;  
2. improving the health and wellness of students and staff; and  
3. providing effective environmental and sustainability education based on sound science and civics. The application focuses on measurable and verifiable results wherever possible. 

Completed electronic applications for Virginia Green Ribbon Schools are due to VDOE by December 6, 2024 at 5 p.m. Virginia will recognize up to five schools or divisions as awardees of the Virginia GRS recognition. These awardee’s applications will be forwarded to USED and reviewed by a national selection committee. National awardees will be recognized at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., in the summer of 2025.  

If a school division has previously received the division-level award, individual schools in that division are no longer eligible for recognition. 

The application, FAQs, and additional information about the USED Green Ribbon Schools program can be found on the Virginia Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools website.