All seven schools in the Patrick County Public School Division are fully accredited for the 2019-2020 school year, based on data from the 2018-2019 school year indicating success on meeting benchmarks as set forth by the Virginia Department of Education.
This is the fourth consecutive year that Patrick County Public Schools has been fully accredited.
The Virginia Board of Education measures performance on multiple school quality indicators and encourages continuous improvement for all schools. Schools are measured using multiple indicators including proficiency and closing achievement gaps for English and math, proficiency in science, graduation rate, dropout rate, absenteeism, and college and career readiness. Performance on each indicator is rated at one of three levels:
Level One: Meets or exceeds standard
Level Two: Near standard or making sufficient improvement
Level Three: Below standard
Schools with quality indicators at level one or two achieve accreditation. Patrick County Public Schools has received all indicators at levels one with the exception of one indicator at level two for the 2019-2020 school year. All indicators require a continuous process of monitoring to update performance and revise improvement plans as needed.
Patrick County Public Schools continues to surpass state averages for achievement in the areas of reading, math, science and history. Reading performance in Patrick County is at 85% as compared to a 78% state average. Math performance is at 92% as compared to 82% at the state level. Patrick County students performed at 83% on science assessments as compared to 81% state average. In history, Patrick County achieved 84% as compared to a state average of 80%. The only area that Patrick County performance was below state averages was in the area of writing, with 72% as compared to a state average of 76%.
In Patrick County, 84% of Kindergarten students met fall literacy benchmarks compared to 81% in the state. The on-time graduation rate in Patrick County is one of the highest in the state at 95.6% as compared to a state average of 91.5%. The dropout rate for the class of 2019 is at 3.3%.
Virginia is made up of 133 public school divisions. Each year those divisions are ranked based on overall performance on all SOL tests. Patrick County Public Schools continues to demonstrate growth as indicated by its current state ranking of 17th in the Commonwealth of Virginia for the 2019-2020 school year. Previous years’ rankings are as follows:
2014 75th
2015 46th
2016 36th
2017 19th
2018 19th
2019 17th
The local school division continues to focus on providing high quality instruction to all students. Data is used to look at strengths and to make appropriate adjustments. Students always come first, so that each day in a local school is better than the day before for students and staff members. With support from community partners, Patrick County is dedicated to continuous growth.
Principals in each of the seven fully accredited schools in Patrick County share their pride in the hard work from students, staff members and families.
Blue Ridge Elementary Principal, Jennifer Cox, attributes the continued success at Blue Ridge to a strong sense of commitment to education by the students, teachers, staff, parents, and community.
“Countless hours are devoted each year to developing well-rounded students who will become our future leaders, embracing the ideal of ‘Teaching our Tomorrow,’” Cox said. “Our students and teachers strive to make educational gains each year, and this year had a 3% increase in Math, 2% in Science, and 1% in Reading. All subjects had high pass rates with History at 86%, English 89%, Science 96%, and Math 97%. This excellence is made possible by the support of our amazing staff, parents, and community members. We cannot thank each group enough for partnering with our dedicated teachers and diligent students. While we do not do the jobs we do for recognition, we were very honored to receive the Highest Achievement Exemplar Award from the Virginia Department of Education for our achievements.”
Hardin Reynolds Memorial Principal, Kensie Woods, applauded the efforts of the entire community.
“This wasn’t just the sole effort of one group but rather our Rebel family as a whole. From the selfless faculty and staff, to the diligence of our students, along with the amazing family and friends that rallied around us as we worked tirelessly toward our goals – we wouldn’t have reached and exceeded what we set out to achieve without them,” Woods said. “For every time they have contributed to making HRMS the safe place that’s home to some of the most precious gifts in Patrick County – we cannot even begin to express how grateful we are for their continued support. Our Rebels will continue to make our community proud and strive to make a positive difference in our county and beyond.”
Meadows of Dan Principal, Jason Wood, attributed the school’s success to the hard work of everyone involved with the school.
“We are so blessed to have wonderful students, involved parents, a supportive community, and the hardest working staff. It is truly a community school where everyone works together to support our students and ensure they receive everything they need to be successful. Our SOL performance has continued to improve and this year we were amazed with our students’ success. Our Math and Science pass rate was 100% and our Reading pass rate was 97%. Our SOL scores are great, but more importantly, our students love coming to school because the culture of our school is outstanding,” he said. “Students are loved and in turn, they love learning. From bus drivers to custodians and cafeteria staff to instructional staff, everyone is making a difference in our school and making a difference in the lives of our students.”
Patrick County High School Principal, Trey Cox, emphasized that the success of PCHS came from “the diligence and dedication of our faculty and staff and the continued support of our parents and community.” However, and “most importantly, it came from the hard work, effort and dedication from our students. Two major accomplishments are that our graduation rate was in the top 20 in the state at 95.8%, and we were able to cut our chronic attendance issues in half from 24% to 11%. We are proud of all our accomplishments for the 2018-2019 school year. We look forward to continued progress in the future.”
Patrick Springs Primary Principal, Annie Baker, said “Patrick Springs Primary School would like to take this opportunity to applaud our students, staff, families, and community members in celebrating this outstanding achievement. A collaborative effort by the school and community certainly promoted the success of each of our students. We are extremely thankful to have continued community support, and consistent, valuable volunteers who are diligent in many capacities of our school. During the 2018-2019 school year, our goal was to provide each student with individualized, differentiated instruction. The focused targets of instruction included research-based strategy grouping, defined writing initiatives, and specific-skill intervention. The Panda family will certainly continue in our efforts to strive and attain high-achieving goals.”
Stuart Elementary Principal, Sandra Clement, explained that SES has continued to see a positive shift in math over the last three years and proficiency is now at 95.9%. In addition, she said, “there was tremendous growth in reading performance during the 2019 Spring testing session. Our reading scores improved by 5 percentage points from 88% to 93.6%. Teachers and specialists in all K-7 classrooms continually use small guided reading groups to target individualized student needs and provide them the tiered interventions. The use of word study and leveled readers has helped to meet students at their instructional levels. Teachers, staff, and instructional volunteers have worked diligently to improve comprehension and vocabulary skills. SES appreciates parents and community members who are so vested in our learners by partnering with us to provide resources and assistance in our student academic growth.”
Woolwine Elementary Principal, Jeannie King, said “The dedicated faculty and staff at Woolwine Elementary School continue to put our students first. There continues to be a targeted emphasis on improving reading and math skills. The central office staff supports the school by providing many resources like the guided reading books and math hands-on resources. The Title One family events have placed math and reading resources directly with Warrior students and families which allows for guided practice at both home and school. The school is fortunate to continue to have the support of a great community with parents, grandparents, community members, volunteers and others providing opportunities and resources for learning. The backpack weekend food program, the study buddy lunch/ volunteer program, WES Athletic Boosters and our excellent PTO team are just a few of the ways the community gives their time, efforts, and supports the school.”
