I want to start today’s newsletter with a few moments of gratitude. As a military spouse and proud mom, I want to thank all those who have chosen to serve our great country. Virginia is home to the second-largest active duty population in the country, and many of our service members have their families here with them in Virginia. I am immensely grateful for your sacrifices as well as the sacrifices of your family. 

Additionally, we have been incredibly lucky to work with so many great educators this year, and we are thankful to continue to work shoulder to shoulder with you. We appreciate the hard work you do every day for Virginia’s children. 

Continuing that support, today the Department launched a School Performance and Support Framework Resource Hub. During the media briefing, the Governor, State Board President Creasey, Secretary Guidera, and I celebrated the hard work of school divisions and the extensive work schools are doing to remove non-academic barriers, support regular school attendance, and build strong instructional experiences every day.   

This Hub serves as a resource as schools and school divisions work to transition to the School Performance and Support Framework. The Hub has three sections - "Framework Overview", "School Leader Data Toolkit", and "Supporting Virginia Learners". The "Framework Overview" includes FAQs, timelines, and overviews of each component of the Framework. Additionally, you will find an extensive timeline of the two-year process the State Board took to complete the transition to the new accountability system.

In the School Leader Data Toolkit section, all school data is available as well as school leader and division superintendents' tools to analyze and understand detailed information. Please note that technical assistance office hours officially launch Wednesday, November 13 and will occur every Wednesday from 9-10 a.m. Additionally, two webinars have been scheduled on November 14 and 15 at 10 a.m.  

Finally, the Supporting Virginia Learners section has four blueprints to success for Parents, Teachers, Principals and Superintendents. The Supports also feature fourteen webpages with extensive resources for families and for educators. Please check out the numerous new professional learning opportunities in the Educator Supports section as well as several turnkey parent resources in the Family Supports section.  

As the Department continues to add many new resources, please reach out directly to me with additional resource requests. 

As always, thank you for all you do, 

Lisa 

The VDOE continues its rollout of tiered supports for local school division staff and their implementation of high-quality instruction focused on instructional practices to support specially designed instruction for students with disabilities. In collaboration with James Madison University and the VDOE, the Virginia Principal Support Program is designed to provide targeted professional development and support to public school principals throughout the Commonwealth to increase leadership and capacity in special education. There are two participant options: 

1. Principals with three or fewer years of experience will be mentored by an experienced principal advisor who will provide targeted coaching support throughout the year. Both the early career principal and principal advisor will attend five professional development sessions throughout the school year. Topics may include continuous school improvement, evidence-based practices in special education administration, instructional leadership, and how to effectively provide constructive feedback for employee productivity and effectiveness.  
2. Experienced principals and division-level leaders will convene and collaborate during five work sessions to develop high-quality professional development modules for relevant educational leadership topics. Module development will embed research, evidence-based practices, and evaluation. Upon completion, the permanent products may be used for professional learning and training in the participants’ respective school divisions. 

For more information about this opportunity, contact Jaclyn Nickel, Executive Director of Professional Educator Development and Partnerships, James Madison University, at nickeljr@jmu.edu or (540) 568-7924. 

As divisions continue to build on the 2024–2025 School Year launch, Lexia has prepared the following to support the next steps for division and school leadership, educators, students, and families.  

Please review and send the resources linked below to your ALL In educators and students’ families: 

• For All: Join us in our Autumn ALL In Community Celebration 
• For Division and School Leaders: VDOE and Lexia Recommended October-November Timeline for Success 
• For Students’ Families: Upcoming Family Information Sessions to inform family literacy partnerships: offered in English and Spanish!  

For Educators: November ALL In Newsletter which includes flexible professional learning options, quick tips for advancing data routines, and more information about our Autumn ALL In Celebration. For additional information or to get connected with your Lexia Success Manager, contact vatutoring@lexialearning.com or visit Lexia’s Virginia ALL In Landing Page. 

School divisions are reminded that all final reimbursements for ESSER funds not already included in a division’s previously submitted late liquidation application must be submitted no later than November 15, 2024. If application amendments and budget transfer requests are required, they MUST be submitted in OMEGA no later than this Friday, November 8, to assure adequate processing time.  

Questions may be directed to vdoefederalrelief@doe.virginia.gov. 

The General Assembly appropriated $808,000 in funding to attract, recruit, and retain high-quality individuals to teach science, technology, engineering, or mathematics subjects in Virginia middle and high schools experiencing difficulty in recruiting qualified teachers. School divisions interested in this funding must submit a STEM Teacher Recruitment and Retention Initiatives (TRRI) Application on the Single Sign-on for Web Systems (SSWS) portal by Friday, December 6, 2024.  

The submitted application should include the number of vacancies in the corresponding STEM endorsement area for the 2024-2025 school year between July 1, 2024, and November 1, 2024.  

Additional instructions and information on the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Teacher Recruitment and Retention can be found here.

Applications are currently open for the fiscal year 2025 Hometown Teacher Program. This program provides grants of $7,500 to low-income high school graduates who graduated from an institution of higher education in the Commonwealth and subsequently returned to teach within one year of college graduation in a high-need public school in the school division where they graduated.   

Eligible individuals should work with their Human Resources Department in their local school division to submit applications using the designated process outlined in the application packet. Each Superintendent’s Region may select up to four applicants for consideration. Individuals who received an award through this program during a previous fiscal year should complete the continuing application. All applications are due by March 14, 2025.   

Additional information can be found in the Hometown Teacher Program Application Packet.

 For more information and to apply, refer to SCNP Director’s Memo #2024-2025-44. 

The VDOE Office of School and Community Nutrition Programs  would like to inform school food authorities about the food service management company contracts webinar on December 5, 2024, at 2:00 p.m. 

Attendance is required for SFAs currently contracting with an FSMC and those considering contracting with an FSMC. SFAs are required to register for the webinar by December 2, 2024, at 5:00 p.m. A confirmation email with details for joining the webinar will be sent upon registration.  

The webinar will review: 

• the process and timeline for new and renewing contracts 
• applicable local, state, and federal procurement regulations 
• the responsibilities of the SFA and the FSMC 
• resources for additional information and assistance 

More information can be found in SCNP Director’s Memo #2024-2025-45. 

As shared in the August 29, 2024, Virginia Education Update newsletter, completed applications for the 2026 Mary V. Bicouvaris Virginia Teacher of the Year must be submitted by Monday, February 3 at 4 p.m. using the 2026 Teacher of the Year Application portal.  School division superintendents are invited to nominate one teacher for state-level recognition. The program recognizes all teachers in pre-kindergarten through grade 12, including library media specialists, school counselors, career and technical educators, mathematic specialists, and reading specialists, who hold a current renewable Virginia teaching license in the assigned teaching area.  

The Division Superintendent may designate one individual to complete the application. Please use your work email to create or log into the online portal.  Completed applications must be submitted by Monday, February 3 by 4 p.m. using the 2026 Teacher of the Year Application. 

Please see the VDOE Educator Awards and Recognition web page for details, directions, and the online application. Send questions to TeacheroftheYear@doe.virginia.gov.