Sixty-two of Virginia Beach City Public Schools' 81 testing schools have earned awards of excellence from Governor Timothy Kaine and the Virginia Board of Education.

Five schools - Creeds Elementary School, Kemps Landing Magnet School, King’s Grant Elementary School, Old Donation Center, and Princess Anne High School – are recipients of the prestigious Governor’s Award for Educational Excellence. This is the highest honor under a new incentive program to advance the Governor’s Competence to Excellence agenda. In order to qualify for the award schools must meet or exceed all state and federal performance benchmarks for at least two consecutive years. Additionally they must meet the Governor’s goals for achievement in elementary reading, Algebra I enrollment by grade 8, enrollment in college-level courses, and attainment of advanced diplomas and career and industry certifications.

The school division as a whole and 35 individual schools earned the Board of Education’s Virginia Index of Performance (VIP) Excellence Award. This award is given to districts and schools which meet state and federal accountability benchmarks for at least two consecutive years and make significant progress toward state goals for increased student achievement.

A third honor, the Board of Education’s VIP Competence to Excellence Award, recognizes schools which meet state and federal benchmarks for at least two consecutive years and are making progress toward the VIP objectives. Twenty-two Virginia Beach schools are recipients.

“These awards reflect our divisionwide commitment to academic rigor and continuous improvement,” said Virginia Beach schools Superintendent Dr. James Merrill. “The students, teachers, and staff of these schools are to be commended. They prove the adage that maximum effort brings maximum return,” Merrill added.

A complete list of schools earning the Board of Education's VIP Excellence and VIP Competence to Excellence awards is available on the Virginia Department of Education’s Web site.