What a great way to start the week! I began on Tuesday by celebrating two regional Teachers of the Year. Isle of Wight Carrsville Elementary School is home to the Region 2 Teacher of the Year, Deana Hubbell. Her impact stretches far beyond her role in the classroom. Mrs. Hubbell’s dedication to integrating technology into education has been a driving force throughout her career. Through her leadership, she has mentored and coached countless teachers, helping them implement innovative teaching strategies and tools in their classrooms. Her work in STEM challenges has opened her students’ eyes to practical, hands-on problem-solving. 

Mrs. Hubbell’s influence is not confined to the classroom setting—she has organized extracurricular activities like coding clubs, animation clubs, and student leadership programs, providing students with outlets to develop critical thinking, creative thinking, and collaboration skills. One of her most impactful lessons was a partnership with a local community pizza restaurant, where her third-grade students applied concepts of economics in a real-world setting. In another lesson, Mrs. Hubbell worked with local farmers to teach the concept of simple machines. These lessons helped students understand human, natural, and capital resources in a fun and relatable way. 

On Tuesday, we also celebrated James Eccleston as the Region 3 Teacher of the Year. Mr. Eccleston has spent nearly four decades sharing his passion for history and geography with students at Gloucester High School. Known for his innovative approach, he uses artifacts, photos, and objects from his travels to make history come alive. Thanks to the many partnerships he has fostered, students have had the rare opportunity to hear firsthand accounts from individuals who lived through pivotal moments in history, such as interviews with Pearl Harbor survivors. 

Mr. Eccleston’s influence extends well beyond the walls of his classroom as many of his students have gone on to pursue careers in history, teaching, and political science. His dedication to inspiring a love for history and government—while ensuring students understand the relevance of the past in shaping the present and future—has made his classes some of the most memorable and impactful of their academic careers. 

Mrs. Hubbell and Mr. Eccleston’s careers exemplify the extraordinary influence of educators, and their stories highlight the importance of supporting and elevating educators within school divisions. These educators have gone above and beyond in creating meaningful and lasting impacts on their students' lives, but their success wouldn’t have been possible without the encouragement and resources provided by their school divisions and school leaders. 

I am incredibly appreciative of the leaders in Isle of Wight and Gloucester County Public Schools  for their role in fostering the growth of their educators by supporting collaborative environments, offering professional development opportunities, and creating systems that allow teachers to continually enhance their craft. At the heart of this support is the understanding that great teachers are the backbone of any successful educational system. When school divisions recognize the importance of elevating educators, they create an environment where teachers are empowered to make a meaningful difference—both inside and outside the classroom. As evidenced by the accomplishments of Deana Hubbell and James Eccleston, a school division’s commitment to its educators can lead to transformative, life-changing experiences for students, and a legacy of inspiration that will continue for years to come. #ElevateEducatorsVA 

I also want to take a moment to announce the launch of our ALL In Virginia Schools of Distinction recognition application. This award celebrates the hard work of school divisions in implementing and successfully executing their ALL In plans and seeing significant learning recovery from their students. We will be honoring our ALL In Schools of Distinction throughout the remainder of the school year.  More information is in the news article below in this week’s edition of Virginia Education Update. 

Best, 

Lisa

The Virginia Department of Education is calling on all school divisions to apply for the ALL In Division of Distinction award. This award celebrates the hard work of school divisions in implementing and successfully executing their ALL In plans. Those school divisions that have seen outcomes for students in attendance, literacy and math, and learning loss recovery should apply for this recognition. The department will use evidence and data from the application process to select ALL In Divisions of Distinction.  

Interested school divisions should complete the following application, submit the following evidence, and create a video to elevate their hard work. Submissions are due March 31, 2025.  

Specifications and requirements for the video: 

• Export the video in .mp4 or .mov format. 720p or 1080p resolution is recommended 
• Video should be produced in horizontal orientation (i.e., designed for computer screens and not phone screens). 
• Video should be 2-4 minutes in length. 
• For those with limited editing resources or expertise, please avoid using background music.  VDOE can provide music if desired. 
• If you include images of students, please ensure that all featured students have a proper media release or have not opted out of media consent.  

The Department will be featuring ALL IN Divisions of Distinction through the Spring and Summer.  

The VDOE Fine Arts Program is sponsoring a professional learning series for division leaders of fine arts instruction. The hybrid program will include a series of four meetings: three virtual and one in-person. Each school division is encouraged to send individuals who supervise fine arts instruction for students in K-12, including division fine arts leaders or a teacher leader identified by the division leader. Participants are encouraged to engage in the complete series.

The program will include topics of high quality, standards-aligned instructional practices, effective implementation of content of fine arts instructional guides, and data analysis for program and course planning. Participants will engage in smaller group discussions for collaboration among school divisions and have an opportunity to provide feedback to VDOE staff regarding future work. 

Program Schedule 

• Virtual Meeting: April 23, 2025, 10-11 a.m. 
• Virtual Meeting: May 7, 2025, 10-11 a.m.  
• 2025 VDOE Fine Arts Leadership Conference - In-person – Choose 1 
  • West: June 24, 2025, 1-4:30 p.m. at the Southwest Higher Education Center in Abingdon 
  • East: June 26, 2025, 1-4:30 p.m. at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond 
• Virtual Meeting: July 23, 2025, 10-11 a.m.  

Participants must register for the complete series by no later than April 9, 2025.

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. 

March is Literacy Month and divisions across the Commonwealth have been highlighting the power of reading and encouraging everyone to pick up a book and dive into the world of words!  As students across the Commonwealth are increasing their literacy skills, educators and families are working to ensure all of Virginia’s students are motivated to read and become life-long lovers of literacy. A few ways to encourage students to read, may be to:  

• Let Them Choose: Giving students the freedom to pick books that interest them increases engagement. 
• Create a Reading-Friendly Environment: A cozy, inviting reading space makes reading more enjoyable. 
• Read Aloud and Discuss: Reading aloud can bring stories to life and spark curiosity. 
• Connect Books to Their Interests: Recommend books based on hobbies, favorite shows, or games. 
• Make It Social: Book clubs, discussions, and peer recommendations make reading more engaging. 
• Model a Love for Reading: When teachers and parents read regularly, students are more likely to follow. 
• Tie Reading to Real-Life Experiences: Visiting places related to books or acting out scenes can bring stories to life. 

Continue to encourage families to utilize the resources found on the Virginia Department of Education website as well as the "Family Supports for Reading” in the Resource Hub. #EverybodyReadsVA 

The Developing Skilled Readers and Building Reading Stamina (DSR) strand was added to the 2024 English Standards of Learning to highlight the skills and strategies students use each time they engage with text—through reading, writing, collaborating, and researching, as outlined in the other standards.  

But what does this really mean? Join the VDOE for grade-specific, live webinars that will explore how the DSR standards are met through content-rich texts read by students. Participants in these webinars will learn grade-level expectations for students to fluently read complex texts, purposefully gather textual evidence from a variety of texts and genres to support claims, conclusions, and inferences, and understand how intentionally selected texts provide opportunities for students to read widely about a topic to gain knowledge and expand their vocabulary. By the end of this session participants will better understand how to anchor all literacy learning in the DSR strand.   

Division literacy leaders as designated in SSWS will receive an invitation to attend and interested division and school literacy contacts should contact their literacy leaders to obtain registration information. We anticipate that registration will be high. Therefore, please plan to limit individual registrations per division by watching the webinar together under one registration. This webinar series will be recorded and posted publicly.

VDOE and Just Right Reader will be hosting a three-part webinar series. These webinars will focus on providing support for our students and families around the use of decodable texts. 

The topics of these webinars include: 

• Setting up for Implementation Success. 
• Adapting Instruction to Reach Every Learner. 
• Partnering with Families. 

The first webinar focused on Setting Up for Implementation Success will be held on Wednesday, March 26th at 1:00pm. Attendance is encouraged to learn more about implementing the use of decodable text to support foundational reading skills. Please register at the link provided. 

As approved by the Virginia Board of Education in 2018, the Guidelines for the Use of Local Performance Assessments to Verify Credits in Writing require all school divisions to notify the VDOE each year regarding how students in the division will verify credits in writing. Each Division Director of Testing (DDOT) or designee should complete the Verifying Credits in Writing: Annual Survey to indicate if the division will verify credits in writing using local performance assessments, the Standards of Learning End-of-Course Writing test, or substitute tests for verified credit approved by the Board. All school divisions are asked to submit the online survey no later than March 31, 2025, regardless of which method will be used. A PDF copy of this survey is available, so the questions may be shared with others as needed prior to submitting.  

School divisions using local performance assessments to verify credits in writing are to develop and maintain locally a Verified Credit Plan that describes how the local performance assessments and processes adhere to the requirements set forth in the Guidelines. Related resources provided by the VDOE are available on the Local Performance Assessments to Verify Credits in Writing web page. 

The General Assembly and Governor Youngkin created the School Construction Assistance Program. $80.0 million in funding was appropriated for the program in FY 2025 and FY 2026 from the School Construction Fund. Grants will be awarded by the Virginia Board of Education on a competitive basis to local school boards and regional Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs that demonstrate poor building conditions, commitment, and need to fund the construction, expansion, or modernization of public school buildings. 

School divisions or regional CTE programs (with alignment to the VOEE high-demand occupation list and evidence of analysis with regional workforce and higher-education strategies) requesting funding may only apply for one school project during the open application period. The total project cost eligible to receive a grant award must be a minimum of $1 million. 

As directed by the Board, school projects achieving the qualifying score of 65 points will be eligible for funding. School divisions may apply for grant funding using VDOE’s Single Sign-On Web Systems (SSWS) portal where instructions and additional guidance documents can be found at SCAP FY 25.    

Application for funding must be submitted in SSWS no later than Friday, April 18, 2025. School divisions applying for a new school project in the planning or in the document preparation phase that have not yet obtained a VDOE school project number must complete a Planned School Form to be identified as an eligible school project in SSWS and be scored using the competitive criteria in the Board’s guidelines.  

The VDOE is required by federal regulation to ensure all school divisions in Virginia comply with federal and state special education regulations on the funds provided to local educational agencies under Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The IDEA Part B funds may be used only to pay for the excess costs of providing special education and related services to children with disabilities. 

The VDOE utilizes the Special Education Excess Cost (Speced-Excess) web-based application, accessed through VDOE’s Single Sign-on for Web Systems (SSWS) portal, for school divisions to report excess cost calculations for the 2023-24 school year. The collection window for submission will open March 17, 2025, and will close May 9, 2025. All LEAs are encouraged to submit the data by the close date to avoid delay in the approval of their Annual Plans. Late submissions or inaccurate reporting will affect the school division’s Local Determination Accountability Matrix and may prompt a fiscal monitoring review by the VDOE.

The Excess Cost Calculation Guidelines and Procedures Manual provides guidance and information for submitting the worksheet and the division superintendent’s or their designee’s access to the Superintendent Data Collection Approvals Application in SSWS for approval and certification of the Verification Reports. Refer to the Excess Cost Information Document for additional information. A pre-recorded training for submitting data will be available to school divisions next week. An email will be sent to directors of special education with links to the pre-recorded training and a question-and-answer session. This information should be shared with the school division’s fiscal staff.  

VDOE will host a webinar for all early childhood care and education stakeholders about the proposed updates to the 2025-2026 VQB5 Guidelines on Friday, March 21 at noon. This webinar will be recorded. 

• Webinar: Update on Proposed 2025-2026 VQB5 Guidelines  
• Date: March 21 at Noon   
• Register  

The 2024 General Assembly enacted Chapter 623 of the Code of Virginia that requires the Board of Education to adopt a policy addressing SLIFE (Students with Limited and/or Interrupted Formal Education) in the on-time graduation (OGR) and dropout rate formula so that they are not included if they have not been enrolled in a public Virginia high school for at least two semesters.  

As such, on February 27, 2025, the Board of Education adopted a policy that changes the formula for Virginia’s on-time graduation and dropout rates. Beginning with the 2025 graduation cohort, the On-Time Graduate Rate and Cohort Dropout Rate calculated for each Virginia high school will exclude any SLIFE student who has not attended at least two cumulative semesters of high school in a Virginia public school.  This change applies to students identified as SLIFE at any time during their enrollment in a Virginia public school.    

Exclusion from these rates means that students identified as SLIFE who did not earn a diploma will be removed from the denominator of both the On-Time Graduation Rate and the Cohort Dropout Rate.  The two cumulative semesters will be determined using the student’s total Average Daily Membership over the course of their time in high school (grades 9-12).    

For more information about the change, please see the Board of Education February 27, 2025, agenda item BOE Feb 27 Agenda Item H. If you have any questions about this change in the on-time graduation and dropout rates, please contact the Office of Data Services at ResultsHelp@doe.virginia.gov.   

The Virginia Board of Education is seeking nominees for a vacancy on the Board’s Advisory Committees. A full list of open seats is available on the VDOE website.    

Please note that by state or federal law or regulation, some of the vacancies on advisory committees require specific categories of expertise, qualifications, or geographic representation (map of the VDOE Superintendent’s Regions).  

Members of advisory committees do not receive compensation for their service but may be reimbursed for travel expenses in accordance with state travel guidelines set forth by the Department of Accounts.    

Educators, parents, administrators, and other individuals are invited to apply by completing this nomination form by 5 p.m. on Friday, March 28, 2025. 

The Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety is pleased to announce an eight-part webinar series designed to narrow the gaps in understanding of school emergency planning. Over the course of the series, participants will be provided with information on how to plan for, respond to, and recover from a school-based crisis event. The training is offered to individuals currently serving on a division- or school-level crisis management team, directors of school safety and security, those charged with implementing school safety programs, and first responder partners.  

There is no cost to participate in this training. Course materials will be provided via an electronic link emailed before the training. Participants can register for sessions individually based on their role within the crisis management planning phases.  Pre-registration is required. Please note that the DCJS registration system cannot sort eligible from ineligible registrants. Therefore, anyone who registers will receive a confirmation. The DCJS-assigned course director is responsible for reviewing the roster and making a final determination on acceptance into the course. Registrants not accepted will be notified via the email address provided during registration. 

For more information, dates, and to register please visit The Narrowing the Gap: Before, During, and After a Crisis - VA Department of Criminal Justice Services webpage.