Reasons Why VBCPS is Ahead of the Curve
The Class of 2008 was awarded $24.4 million in scholarships.
Ten academy programs available to students in the division – two at the elementary school level, one at the middle school level, and seven at the high school level.
Fiscal Year 2008-2009 operating budget is $721.3 million.
VBCPS is currently in the midst of a six-year $635 million capital improvement program designed to modernize, through renovation or replacement, the district's aging schools as a means of ensuring educational equity for students throughout the district.
The nationally recognized and award winning VBCPS Web site – vbschools.com – averaged approximately 394,628 visitors monthly during the 2008-2009 school year.
Virginia Beach City Public Schools, in collaboration with the Council of PTAs, experienced continued success through the Volunteers In Education program, with more than 20,000 volunteers donating nearly half a million hours of service valued at over $9 million.
The school division's Partners in Education program has established successful collaborations with more than 2,200 businesses, community organizations, military commands, and educational and government entities in order to support student achievement.
The Virginia Beach Public Schools Education Foundation awarded $120,000 in grants to educators for innovative classroom projects. This includes School Wide Grants, up to $5,000 each, that were awarded for innovative projects to one high, two elementary and three middle schools.
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.
Plaza and Seatack elementary schools were selected as a 2005-2006 Year-Round School of Merit by the National Association for Year-Round Education (NAYRE). This honor was awarded to only four year-round elementary schools in the United States, and is based upon commitment to improving the educational experience through the use of a balanced calendar and reducing summer learning loss. Schools earning this award serve as national role models for other schools seeking academic excellence through time and learning.
The school division's Department of Technology has successfully provided the following technology accomplishments: high speed fiber network provides the means to easily and effectively incorporate technology such as Internet and video streaming into instruction; Web-based applications for grade book, local assessments, and student data analysis as well as a wide range of instructional applications; ability to purchase computer hardware and software for personal use at significant discounts; a single, division wide standard for computer operating system and suite of office productivity applications; availability of instructional resource labs and laptop carts/mobile labs at each school; and overall student to computer ratio of 2.66:1.
Newsweek magazine ranked six Virginia Beach High Schools among the nation's best in May, 2008.Ranking in the top five percent of the nation's high schools were Princess Anne (#162); Ocean Lakes (#698); Frank W. Cox (#807); First Colonial (#1066); Landstown (#1322); and Kempsville (#1252). Rankings were determined using a rating based on the number of Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB); and/or Cambridge tests taken by all students in the school in 2005-2006, divided by the number of graduates.
Green Run, Plaza, Rosemont, and Windsor Oaks elementary schools earned the 2008 Title I Distinguished School honors from the Virginia Department of Education. To be worthy of this award, schools must meet federal benchmarks in reading and mathematics; maintain mathematics and reading test scores at the 60th percentile or higher; and be fully accredited under the Commonwealth's Standards of Learning Program for two consecutive years.
Virginia Beach City Public Schools Technical and Career Education Center's auto body/paint technology course was certified by the National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation and Automotive Service Excellence, a national non-profit organization which tests and certifies repair technicians in addition to certifying automotive training programs.
The school division's Department of Media and Communications Development was awarded a total of 12 awards, including the highly acclaimed Golden Achievement Awards, from the National School Public Relations Association for a variety of print, mixed media and electronic media projects.
High school students enrolled in technical and career education course have the option of working toward industry certification credentials in more than 50 of the programs that are offered. In 2007-2008, Virginia Beach City Public Schools students earned 4,081 industry certifications. Included in those certifications, 1,377 students passed the Virginia's Workplace Readiness Skills National Competency Testing Institute (NOCTI) certifications. In addition, dual enrollment and articulation agreements for classes were also available in conjunction with Tidewater Community College.
Virginia Beach City Public Schools are meeting a School Board goal to improve the academic performance of African American males as a part of its School Board Program of Work for 2007-2008. Under the plan, other Board goals include developing a new strategic plan to guide the school division from 2009 to 2015; accomplishing improvements in special education and the elementary teacher workday; and other initiatives.
Through the Department of Administrative Support Services, Virginia Beach City Public Schools has become a leader in adopting "green" environmentally, sustainability practices throughout the school division. The district first led the way in the Commonwealth of Virginia with the construction of its first green building, Hermitage Elementary School. Opened in 2005, Hermitage became the first LEED certified elementary school in Virginia, awarded for its conservation-minded amenities such a water-saving restroom fixtures. The division has adopted three environmental goals: the construction of green buildings; integration of environmentally sustainable practices throughout the division; and educate the public about the importance of embracing environmentally friendly habits necessary to conserve the Earth and its resources.
The school division's Department of Administrative Support Services also publishes a quarterly newsletter titled Green News 
. In addition, the division has a green schools Web page. Administrative Support Services also established other practices such as launching a bike share program for the benefit of municipal complex school employees, a recycling program that netted over 1,236 tons of recyclable items during the 2007-2008 school year; a "Green Cleaning" program that only allows "Green Seal" certified cleaning products to be used throughout the school system; and other initiatives. Because of these efforts, the school division received the 2008 Governor's Environmental Excellence award.