This past week, we wrapped up our back-to-school tour, also known as the Strong School Tour, in Southwest Virginia. Over the course of the tour, Secretary Smith, VDOE leaders, and I traveled 1,800+ miles and visited 18 learning environments—including elementary, middle, and high schools, career and technical education (CTE) centers, and early learning sites—across all 8 regions of the Commonwealth. 

This year, we prioritized visiting schools designated for Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI). These visits gave us valuable opportunities to connect with students, teachers, principals, and school communities; see high-quality instruction and a deep passion for learning in action; and hear directly from educators and school leaders about their priorities, challenges, and needs. It was especially encouraging to see the incredible work happening in schools serving students furthest from opportunity.  

October is Bullying Prevention Month, an opportunity to raise awareness, strengthen connections, and remind students, families, and school staff of the important role everyone plays in preventing bullying. While October provides a dedicated time to focus on bullying prevention, the work of creating safe, inclusive, and supportive school communities continues throughout the year. 

Schools play an important role in prevention by fostering belonging and connectedness, recognizing and responding to bullying behaviors, strengthening peer support, teaching students how to navigate conflict and build healthy relationships, and ensuring students and families know how to report concerns and access help. 

Join VDOE staff for the From Report to Resolution: Building Schoolwide Systems for Bullying Response webinar on October 27 at 9 a.m. To register, complete the From Report to Resolution: Building Schoolwide Systems for Bullying Response Registration Form. This webinar will be recorded and emailed to all registered participants.   

Many Virginia school divisions are leading the way in building innovative, sustainable teacher apprenticeship pathways—and VDOE is hosting a webinar on October 28 at 9 a.m. to help leaders take that work even further. 

This session, cohosted with the National Center for Grow Your Own, will spotlight practical, high-impact strategies for leveraging state, federal, and local funding to expand and sustain teacher apprenticeship programs. Attendees will explore how divisions across the Commonwealth and the nation are removing financial barriers for apprentices, coordinating resources effectively, and designing models that grow the educator workforce with long-term stability in mind. 

During the webinar, participants will learn how to align funding opportunities with program goals, strengthen partnerships, and braid multiple funding streams into a cohesive, sustainable plan. Whether you're building a program from the ground up or scaling an existing initiative, this session will equip you with tools you can put to work immediately. 

Register today and be part of Virginia’s movement to empower future educators and strengthen school division pipelines across the Commonwealth.  

VDOE is pleased to announce that the Virginia Middle School Teacher Corps (MSTC) application window is open for the 2026-27 school year. The MSTC program supports high-quality mathematics instruction by offering recruitment and/or retention incentives of $5,000 per year for up to three years to effective mathematics teachers in schools serving grades six through eight where mathematics has been identified as an area for improvement based on 2025-26 Standards of Learning (SOL) mathematics performance. 

School divisions can access and use MSTC funds to help recruit and/or retain up to two mathematics teachers for each of the eligible schools through the MSTC application. Completed applications are due to VDOE by November 19. Additional information about the MSTC program, including teacher eligibility requirements and a list of the MSTC-eligible schools, is provided on the Virginia Middle School Teacher Corps webpage. 

Please note that the second and third years of the three-year school award are contingent upon continued annual funding from the Virginia General Assembly.   

VDOE is seeking information about how school divisions designate and support attendance officers. Per Virginia Code § 22.1-258, every school board has the power to appoint one or more attendance officers. Where no attendance officer is appointed by the school board, the division superintendent or designee will act as the attendance officer. Because attendance officer roles and responsibilities may be structured differently across divisions, the information collected will help VDOE further understand current practices and identify opportunities to strengthen statewide training, guidance, tools, and resources for attendance officers. 

Please complete the Attendance Officer Responsibilities Survey by November 6. VDOE requests one response from each school division, completed by the division superintendent or a designated representative who is knowledgeable about the division’s attendance practices, policies, and the role of the attendance officer.  

The Virginia General Assembly Page Program is offered by the Senate and the House of Delegates each year during the Virginia General Assembly Session. This update serves as a reminder that divisions should refer to the Regulations Governing Pupil Accounting Records on how to address student absences if participating in the program. A student may be counted as present if serving as a page if the local school board has approved the program. Further, providing local school board approval, no student participating in the page programs should be withdrawn from school.

For questions about the House of Delegates Page Program, please email HousePageSupervisor@house.virginia.gov or for questions about the Senate Page Program, please email pageinfo@senate.virginia.gov. 

School Food Authorities (SFAs) are reminded that annual on‑site accountability reviews of the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP) must be completed no later than February 1, 2027. Federal regulations require each school division with more than one school, including residential child care institutions and non-public schools operating these programs, to conduct at least one review each year. These reviews help ensure meal counting and claiming procedures are accurate and that schools are meeting key program requirements. 

SFAs may review SCNP (Dir.) Memo #2026-2027-22 for detailed information on the accountability review process and available resources.