Alexandria Public Schools Accredited In 2022-2023, 4 With Conditions

ALEXANDRIA, VA — All Alexandria City Public Schools are accredited in the 2022-2023 school year, although four are with conditions.

The Virginia Department of Education released public school accreditation results Thursday, showing 89 percent of public schools are fully accredited. Accreditation is based on indicators in three categories: academic achievement, achievement gaps, and student engagement and outcomes. For each indicator, schools are assigned a level. Level 1 indicates a school meets or exceeds state standard or meets/exceeds sufficient improvement. Level 2 indicates the school is near state standard or near sufficient improvement. Level 3 means the school is below the state standard.

Accredited schools have indicators at Levels 1 or 2 or a waiver. Accredited schools with conditions have one or more indicators at Level 3. Across Virginia, 1,628 of 1,830 schools are fully accredited. Schools accredited with conditions total 190, three have an alternative accreditation plan, and nine are new schools.

At Alexandria City Public Schools, fully accredited schools include Charles Barrett Elementary, Cora Kelly School for Math Science and Technology, Douglas MacArthur Elementary, George Mason Elementary, James K. Polk Elementary, John Adams Elementary, Lyles-Crouch Elementary, Mount Vernon Community School, Naomi L. Brooks Elementary, Samuel W. Tucker Elementary, Francis C. Hammond Middle School, George Washington Middle School and Patrick Henry K-8 School.

Schools accredited with conditions were Ferdinand T. Day Elementary, William Ramsay Elementary, Alexandria City High School and Jefferson-Houston PK-8 School.

At Ferdinand T. Day Elementary, a Level 3 indicator was assigned for the academic achievement indicator in science as well as the student engagement and outcomes indicator for chronic absenteeism. The school's School Quality Profile noted 44.44 percent of students were chronically absent during the 2021-2022 school year.

William Ramsay Elementary's accreditation with conditions was due to a Level 3 indicator for academic achievement in science. Jefferson-Houston PK-8 School received Level 3 in the academic achievement indicators for math and science, as well as achievement gaps indicator for English and math. The school's School Quality Profile identified Level 3 achievement gaps in English and math for Black students and students with disabilities as well as economically disadvantaged students in math. Economically disadvantaged students had a Level 3 achievement gap in English, but all other student groups had Level 1 indicators.

Alexandria City High School had a Level 3 indicator in achievement gap in math. Level 3 indicators for achievement gaps in math were identified for Black students, economically disadvantaged students, Hispanic students, and students with disabilities. Most student groups had a Level 1 achievement gap indicator in English, except for students with disabilities with a Level 2 indicator.

The new accreditation system was adopted by the Virginia State Board of Education in 2017 with increased emphasis on closing achievement gaps. The 2018-2019 school year was the first under the new accreditation system.

Elementary and middle schools are graded on proficiency and growth in English, math and science; achievement gaps among student groups in English and math and absenteeism. High schools are graded on the same categories as well as graduation and completion, dropout rate, and college, career and civic readiness.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow noted in a news release there was a minimal change in accredited schools despite the impacts of learning loss during the COVID-19 pandemic. Virginia had 89 percent of schools fully accredited in 2022-2023, compared with 92 percent in 2019-2020 before the pandemic.

"These ratings call into question the effectiveness of our accreditation standards in identifying schools where students are struggling to achieve grade-level proficiency," Balow said in a statement. "The number and percentage of schools earning accreditation is almost as high as three years ago, despite significant declines in achievement on Standards of Learning tests in reading, math and science — especially among minority and economically disadvantaged students."

In the latest Standards of Learning results, Alexandria City Public Schools had some improvements from last year's scores but lower numbers than pre-pandemic testing.

Students who fail a math or reading Standards of Learning test but show growth can contribute to their school's accreditation. According to the Virginia Department of Education, approximately 19,000 to 20,000 students failed an SOL reading test but showed improvement pre-pandemic, and that number is now up to 61,000 students. In math, more than 88,000 students failed a math SOL but showed improvement this year, compared to approximately 20,000 pre-pandemic.

"Teachers and principals are working hard, and this is reflected in the growth we are seeing, said Balow. "And in commending them for their efforts, I encourage educators in every school — regardless of accreditation rating — to look deeply into their data and chart sure paths to recovery and grade-level proficiency for all of their students."

See more accreditation information for Alexandria City Public Schools on the School Quality Profiles.