The state Board of Education recently recognized 235 schools for high student achievement or continuous improvement under the board’s new exemplar performance school recognition program.

King’s Fork High School was among those recognized for continuous improvement.

The board approved the criteria for the new awards in April 2018. The exemplar performance school recognition program is aligned with the Board of Education’s revised accreditation standards and replaces the Virginia Index of Performance recognition program.

“The exemplar performance awards criteria are designed to complement the commonwealth’s recently revised accreditation standards and help school divisions focus resources where they are most needed to ensure that all children are receiving a high-quality education,” Board of Education President Daniel A. Gecker said. “The awards recognize schools that are exceeding state accreditation standards and schools that are making continuous improvement in improving outcomes for students and in narrowing achievement gaps.”

The recognized schools include 52 schools that earned the Board of Education Highest Achievement Award and 183 schools that earned the Board of Education Continuous Improvement Award.

“I congratulate the principals, teachers, support staff and students of all of these schools for the academic successes and hard work these awards represent,” Superintendent of Public Instruction James Lane said. “I am especially pleased to see schools that went unrecognized under the previous awards program receive the recognition they deserve for consistent gains in academic achievement and successful efforts to reduce absenteeism and dropout rates.”

In order to achieve the 2019 Board of Education Continuous Improvement Award, King’s Fork High School had to earn a state accreditation rating of accredited, or accredited with conditions, and meet at least one of the following:

• A cumulative 10-point increase over three years in the combined rates for reading and mathematics and in the pass rate for science, with improvement each year on each indicator:
• A cumulative 10-point increase over three years in the combined rates for reading and mathematics for two or more student groups, with improvement each year for each group on both indicators;
• A cumulative 15-percent decrease in the chronic absenteeism rate over three years, with a decrease each year; or
• A cumulative four-point increase in the Graduation and Completion Index over three years, with an increase each year, and a cumulative 15-percent decrease in the dropout rate, with a decrease each year.