Good afternoon, 

As we head into a holiday next week, I want to start my newsletter with gratitude. We have so many educators that go above and beyond every day, I am thankful to support all of our educators in Virginia. 

 In addition to honoring the exceptional contributions of educators, this week we also observe National Parental Involvement Day. This annual observance serves as a reminder of the critical role parents play in the educational success of their children. I’m grateful for the work our schools have done to strengthen this partnership and connect with families, making sure students have the support they need to succeed. 

Over the past week, we have celebrated our 2025 Recognizing Inspiring School Employees (RISE) Award. The RISE Award, established by Congress in 2019, recognizes the outstanding contributions of classified school employees in PreK-12 education. Nominees are chosen based on work performance, community involvement, leadership, and support for students and staff. Kimbra Hill of Harrisonburg City Public Schools and Jimmy Horton of Galax City Public Schools were selected as Virginia’s nominees.  

Ms. Hill and Mr. Horton exemplify the dedication, caring, and community involvement that school employees show for our children each day. Ms. Hill has dedicated over 21 years to Harrisonburg City Public Schools, including twelve years at Harrisonburg High School as its Senior Administrative Assistant. She is recognized for her leadership, staff training, and community engagement, including organizing events and charity drives. Mr. Horton, a Fleet Mechanic at Galax City Public Schools for twelve years, brings over 27 years of experience in the transportation industry. He mentors students through summer internships, supports colleagues, and shares his passion for beekeeping by teaching students about the vital role bees play in the environment. Both nominees will be honored at the Virginia Board of Education's December meeting.  

Additionally, we recognized Greendale Elementary School in Washington County and Belmont Elementary School in Prince William County as Virginia’s two 2024 National ESEA Distinguished Schools. Recognized for exceptional student performance for two consecutive years, Greendale Elementary School made noteworthy gains in reading and science SOL scores, improving by nine and fourteen points respectively in the last year. Principal Michael Colton is well known for bringing music into his school and recently created a theme song that his students sing every morning, and through music, his students, teachers and leaders are inspired every day. 

Belmont Elementary was recognized for closing its achievement gap between student groups. The school saw significant improvement in its unadjusted math SOL pass rate from 2023 to 2024, increasing 23% for English Language Learners, 11% for Students with Disabilities, 20% for Hispanic students, 17% for Black students, 13% for Economically Disadvantaged students, and 7% for Asian students. While these are exceptional successes, Belmont Elementary is also a Title I school with students born in 21 different countries speaking 22 different languages. 

 We also know that schools have been refining and implementing strong tutoring models through the ALL In Tutoring program, launched last year. From Loudoun County and Roanoke City to Greene County and Prince William County– divisions across the Commonwealth have used Zearn Math to accelerate student math learning. Research from the first year of usage shows Virginia students who completed three to five Zearn lessons per week made 22%-24% more math growth on the Virginia SOL Assessment Program than the state average.  Free access includes Zearn’s K-8 math platform offering more than 1,000 digital lessons, training for educators and materials to support families and resources. Families can also use Zearn at no cost.  

As all schools are digging into their data, using their roadmaps to update continuous improvement plans, please look at our library of educator and family resources.  

In deep appreciation for all you do for Virginia’s 1.24 million K-12 students! 

-Lisa  

Earlier today, in response to the evidence showing unrestricted cell phone and addictive social media use are major contributors to the youth mental health crisis in this country by exacerbating issues like depression, anxiety, and self-harm, Governor Youngkin issued Executive Order 43- Empowering and Supporting Parents to Protect Their Children from Addictive Social Media and Establishing the Reclaiming Childhood Task Force. 

Executive Order 43 activates every Commonwealth agency and office that supports parents and children to launch a coordinated awareness campaign to ensure every Virginia parent has the knowledge they need to protect their kids from unrestricted cell phone use and addictive social media.  

The order also directs the Secretary of Health and Human Resources, in collaboration with the Secretary of Education and the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security, to establish the Reclaiming Childhood Task Force.  The Secretary shall convene the Task Force, which will include parents and kids from around Virginia, as well as pediatricians, mental health experts, educators, faith leaders, community leaders, private sector technology experts, public safety officials as well as all relevant state agencies.  

In addition to launching the Task Force, EO 43 immediately mobilizes agencies to provide resources for parents, educators, and healthcare providers, specifically directing agencies to: 

• Send a coordinated dear colleague letter to pediatricians, family practitioners, primary care providers, and mental health providers, to promote screening for unhealthy internet and social media use in youth;
• Create and disseminate a Social Media and Mental Health Toolkit to: (a) provide training materials, educational resources, and practical solutions to help children and teens navigate the digital world;
• Train local Community Service Boards to address behavioral health issues in youth tied to addictive social media use;
• Launch a public health initiative and strategy related to the impact of social media and screen use in youth with a strong emphasis on prevention strategies including a focus on nutrition, exercise, and other non-screen related activities that support wellness;  
• Conduct listen and learn sessions across the Commonwealth with parents, educators, child welfare and child mental health experts to gather best practices on managing social media and screen use among youth. 

Resources for parents and educators are available at Reclaiming Childhood.  

To support school divisions’ continued implementation of the Virginia Literacy Act, VDOE has released an extensive update on the VLA. In this edition of the Literacy Update, newly approved supplemental and intervention guides and materials are included for division planning purposes.   

• Instructional Materials
• Use of VALLSS and Student Reading Plans
• Professional Development
• Planning
• Frequently Asked Questions from the Field      

Superintendents are asked to share these resources with key literacy staff and principals.    

The Virginia Department of Education is seeking applications from individuals who are qualified and available to serve on the VDOE Multilingual Learner Resource Review Committee. Selected members will serve a two-year term with quarterly virtual meetings to review and make recommendations on revisions to the existing multilingual learner/English learner resources created by the VDOE.   

Applicants should be teachers, content specialists, or other educators who are knowledgeable about best practices for multilingual learner instruction. All individuals who wish to serve on this committee must submit an online application. Approximately seven to nine members will be selected. The application will require a professional reference and supervisor approval.  

Completed applications are due to the VDOE by December 20, 2024. Applicants are responsible for ensuring all required parts of the application are complete by this date. Committee applicants will be notified of their selection status within two weeks of the application closing.  

Questions can be emailed to Jo-el Cox, Coordinator of Multilingual Learner Instruction at jo-el.cox@doe.virginia.gov.

In the upcoming weeks, VDOE will release history and social science instructional guides as companion documents to the 2023 History and Social Science Standards of Learning – amplifying each standard by defining the core knowledge and skills in practice, supporting teachers and their instruction, and serving to transition classroom instruction from the 2015 History and Social Science Standards of Learning to the newly adopted standards.  

Instructional supports are accessible in #GoOpenVA to assist school divisions in making decisions about local curriculum development and how best to help students meet the goals of the standards. The local History and Social Science curriculum should include a variety of information sources, readings, learning experiences, and forms of assessment selected to create a rigorous instructional program.  

Instructional guides include five distinct sections: Changes and Revisions, Understanding the Standard, Supporting Questions, Skills in Practice, and Concepts and Connections aligned to each standard.  

The first release date is November 15, 2024 (Civics and Economics). Department staff will provide professional learning sessions through multiple means to ensure that teachers and those that support them (e.g., principals, central office personnel, directors) will learn about the purpose, intention, structure, content, and context for implementation.   

A webinar will be held Tuesday, December 3, 2024, at 9:30 a.m. to discuss the purpose and appropriate use of the instructional guides. Division leaders, curriculum leaders, and school leaders are asked to attend this session. You must register in advance.  

Educators should monitor the History and Social Science webpage for additional information. 

The Virginia Department of Education is opening the 2025 Mathematics Textbooks and Instructional Material review cycle for grades K-12 Mathematics.  

The 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 the Virginia Textbook Review and Approval Process.  

VDOE will host an information webinar for all interested publishers on Wednesday, December 4, 2024, at 1 p.m. EST. Please register to attend the Virginia Mathematics Publisher Webinar.  

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 VDOE’s Webpage for Textbook Review & Approval.   

Completed Intent to Submit and Certification Form is due on December 13, 2024, and the State Textbook Information Form and Publisher Correlation Forms are due to the VDOE by January 3, 2025. All forms can be found on the Mathematics Textbook and Instructional Materials Review Process webpage. 

The General Assembly appropriated state funding to incentivize public-school staff members to pursue National Board Certification. In alignment with the approved budget language, the Virginia Department of Education is requesting school divisions to submit data for all public-school staff members who have an active national certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. School divisions will be asked to verify that these individuals were employed by a Virginia school division as of September 30, 2024.   

The 2024 – 2025 data collection should be submitted by Friday, December 20, 2024, through the Single Sign-On for Web Services system. Note that all school divisions need to submit a verification report to the VDOE even if they do not employ any individuals eligible to receive the incentive award. In this case, indicate on the verification report that “No eligible individuals are employed; therefore, none are reported for this collection cycle.” 

Please review this additional Information related to the National Board Certification Incentive Award.

The Virginia Department of Education is requesting that all divisions provide families with the Student Assessment Summary (SAS report) and Dr. Coon’s letter by January 31, 2025. 

Divisions can print from Virginia Visualization and Analytics Solution (VVAAS) starting November 25th, 2024. EVAAS will contact divisions directly once the SFTP batch files are ready in early December. The request for Zip files ended November 6, 2024. 

VDOE VVAAS Resources for Parents is ready, and a link is provided at the bottom of the SAS report. If your division needs Dr. Coon’s letter in Word format for translation purposes, email vvaas@doe.virginia.gov. 

The purpose of the report is for families to learn about a student's assessment patterns. The patterns show how a student performed within a specific subject over time, as well as how the scores compare to all others that took the same test. This information, along with grades and other assessment results shared by your division is a great place to start engaging with families. We suggested to families in the Student Assessment Summary Letter that if a student’s report shows areas of deficiency or concern, they are to reach out to the student's school to further discuss the data and develop a plan of action for improvement. 

For questions regarding this VVAAS SAS report, please contact Morri Pace, VVAAS Coordinator, at vvaas@doe.virginia.gov.   

Required Federal Recording and Reporting Webinar on Tuesday, November 26

VDOE would like to remind divisions of the requirements to file (record) Notice of Federal Interest(s) for qualifying improvements to properties as well as the requirement to report, using the Federal Real Property Status Report, any ESSER funded improvement to properties by December 15, 2024. Please refer to the email sent by Carol Sylvester from VDOEfederalrelief@doe.virginia.gov on Wednesday, October 30, 2024.  

To assist divisions, VDOE will offer a webinar on November 26, 2024, at 10 a.m.  Please use the Recording and Reporting link to access the training.  (Webinar ID: 853 6709 2992, Passcode: 7EM9kP)  

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

VDOE has received applications for School Security Equipment Grants for the 2024-2025 grant year and evaluated these applications on competitive criteria developed in collaboration with the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services. Approximately $12 million in School Security Equipment Grants were awarded to 472 schools from 96 public school divisions.  

The list of awarded schools and terms of the grant award can be found on the VDOE Security Equipment Grant webpage. 

The grant requires that awarded schools must remain open for at least five more years and also required a local match of 25% of the state grant amount.  Grants will pay for equipment such as security card access systems, visitor ID badging systems, surveillance cameras, security vestibules, AEDs, voice and video internal communication systems, hurricane or intruder security film, vaping detectors, security fences, interior school bus cameras, two-way radios, GPS tablets and ID card readers in school buses, and other security enhancements. 

The Maintenance of Effort (MOE) requirements in §300.203(b) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) are mandated for all school divisions to be in compliance. The federal regulation requires school divisions to spend at least the same amount of local or local plus state dollars for the current school year on the delivery of special education and related services as were spent from that same source in the last year the school division met its MOE compliance obligation.  

All school divisions must utilize the IDEAMOE Application through VDOE’s Single Sign-on for Web Systems portal to report costs associated with providing special education and related services to children and youth with disabilities that are above and beyond the cost of providing regular education programs to nondisabled students. The data collection window will open December 2, 2024, and close January 31, 2025.

The VDOE’s MOE Information Document provides further details on this requirement. The IDEA MOE Guidance Document and the IDEA MOE Application User’s Manual contain additional guidance and information.

A pre-recorded training session reviewing the purpose of IDEA MOE, allowable and unallowable exceptions, methods of calculation, consequences of noncompliance and submitting the data will be made available, and two live question and answer sessions will be conducted in January 2025 to provide assistance. Directors of Special Education will receive an email from the Associate Superintendent of Special Populations and Board Operations to access these resources and are encouraged to share the information with those assisting with this data collection. 

The Virginia Department of Education is pleased to have selected Greendale Elementary School in Abingdon, VA, and Belmont Elementary School in Woodbridge, VA, for recognition through the National ESEA Distinguished Schools Program. Greendale Elementary School was selected by a review panel to represent Virginia in Category 1: Exceptional student performance for two consecutive years. Belmont Elementary School was selected by a review panel to represent Virginia in Category 2: Closing the gap between student groups. 

A project of the National Association of ESEA State Program Administrators (NAESPA), the National ESEA Distinguished Schools Program publicly recognizes qualifying federally funded schools for the outstanding academic achievements of their students. For a school to qualify for the National ESEA Distinguished School award, the school must have: 

1. A poverty rate of at least 35 percent for each of the two most current consecutive school years. 
2. Demonstrated exceptional academic achievement for two or more of the most current consecutive school years. 
3. Met full state accreditation for two or more consecutive years. 

National ESEA Distinguished Schools will be recognized during the National ESEA Conference scheduled for February 19-21, 2025, in Austin, Texas. The VDOE News Release was published on November 18, 2024.  

High school students, parents, and guardians who are interested in learning about financial aid options for college are invited to attend one of the Financial Aid 101 webinars hosted by Level Up Virginia and Virginia Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (VASFAA).  

Topics covered include Federal Financial Aid, State Financial Aid, Application Tips, and Q & A. 

Register today to attend a session December 5 or December 12, 2024, from 6 to 7:15 p.m. Both sessions are free and will cover the same information. Please see the Financial Aid 101 flyer for more information.