More than half of schools in Southwest and Southside are exceeding state expectations, new scores show

More than half of public schools in Southwest and Southside Virginia are exceeding the state’s expectations for student achievement, absenteeism and other quality measures, earning them the top “distinguished” rating under the state’s new accountability framework rolled out for the 2024-25 school year.

That framework ranks each school in Virginia in one of four performance categories: distinguished, meets expectations, approaching expectations or needs intensive support.

Of 412 schools in Cardinal News’ coverage area/Southwest and Southside, nearly 80% are meeting expectations, compared to 70% statewide. Only a handful of school divisions across the region have schools identified as “needs intensive support” — the lowest rating — with the majority clustered in Lynchburg, Roanoke and Danville city school divisions.

Southwest Virginia schools are performing particularly well, according to data released Wednesday by the Virginia Department of Education. Of 148 schools in the department’s Superintendent Region 7, which stretches west from Giles, Pulaski and Carroll counties, 89 — or 60% — were rated as distinguished following the 2025-2026 school year. 

Region 7 and Region 6, which includes schools in the Roanoke and New River valleys, Danville and Martinsville, saw more distinguished schools than any other region in the state. Three of every four schools at least meet state expectations.

Only schools in Northern Virginia, or Region 4, came close to the success of Southwest and also surpassed the state average. 

Southwest Virginia schools face many challenges, some shared with divisions across the state and the country, and some unique to the region. 

Many school divisions face declining enrollment and closing schools. They may struggle to recruit bus drivers and special education teachers, and budget challenges are leading to program cuts and laid-off staff in some areas. Poverty is as rampant in parts of Southwest Virginia as in some of the state’s metro areas, which decades of research has shown impacts student achievement, chronic absenteeism and high school graduation rates.

But Southwest Virginia has had a long history of “punching above its weight,” Scott Brabrand, executive director of the Virginia Association of School Superintendents, said by phone. 

“They’ve done a good job of recruiting and retaining teachers,” he noted. Southwest Virginia has the lowest teacher vacancy rate of the state’s eight regions.

High-quality teachers are the best indicator for student success, Brabrand said.

Mike Goforth, superintendent of Wise County Public Schools, agreed. He credited his schools’ success to dedicated teachers and staff, and strong leadership.

All 11 Wise County schools received a distinguished rating for the 2025-26 school year, with several receiving among the highest scores possible on the state’s accountability framework.

“That success starts with dedicated teachers and staff, strong school leadership, a supportive school board and families who partner with us. Together, we share a belief that every student in Wise County can succeed. Our people know their students, hold high expectations, and work together to provide support when students need it,” Goforth said via email. “Combined with our third-place statewide SOL ranking, these results give our entire community something to celebrate.”

The Virginia Department of Education also highlighted schools across the state that saw the most growth in their overall framework scores this year.

Of schools in the top 10 at each level (elementary, middle and high), 18 were in Southwest or Southside, including five in Washington County.

Abingdon Elementary, Damascus Middle, Abingdon High, Holston High and John S. Battle High all ranked in the top 10 in score gains. Patrick Henry High in Washington County ranked in the top 20.

“We are very proud of the academic performance of all schools in Washington County. Our success can be attributed to our focus on doing whatever it takes to help our students succeed,” Superintendent Keith Perrigan said in an email. “That recipe includes amazing students, dedicated teachers, supportive parents, a board that is focused on academic excellence and recruiting/retaining the best staff possible to ensure that classrooms and students have the support they need to excel.” 

A new ranking system

This is the second year the Virginia Department of Education has used this school accountability system. The new framework was rolled out last year by Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration to give communities a better understanding of how their schools are doing beyond just accreditation, according to a department presentation Tuesday.

The framework uses points to rank schools. Points are determined by factors including students’ SOL test results, which were released in August; growth in reading and math; high school graduation rates; chronic absenteeism; and English learners’ progress. 

Other measures, such as student achievement in advanced math coursework and students’ readiness to enter college, a career or the military, are also considered at different school levels.

The new system was coupled with an increase in standards and minimum passing scores on SOL tests, but those higher passing scores are being phased in over a four-year period starting with the current school year and weren’t reflected in this year’s SOL results. 

Under the accountability system, a school earns a combined score from these weighted components, which places it into one of the four categories.

Last year, “meets expectations” was called “on track” and “approaching expectations” was “off track.” The labels were changed based on recommendations from the state’s Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission and feedback gathered during a spring listening tour by state education officials, Alyssa Schwenk, assistant superintendent of strategic communications for the Education Department, said during a Tuesday press briefing.

Schools with the distinguished rating have earned 90 or more points and
“serve as a model for other schools,” according to the department presentation.

Schools scoring 79 points or less are not considered to be meeting expectations, and those below 65 points need significant support.

Statewide, 44% of schools were ranked as distinguished this year, with another 26% meeting expectations.

About 416 were identified as approaching expectations and 125 as in need of intensive support. Twenty-three of the schools in need of intensive support are in Southwest and Southside Virginia.

Looking ‘beyond labels’

Virginia’s previous accountability system only identified schools as “accredited” or not. More than 86% of schools in 2023-24 were accredited.

The new system is an “improvement over the prior system,” a 2025 JLARC report found, but the report also said the framework “weights proficiency much more heavily than growth,” which is an important factor for schools with higher numbers of economically disadvantaged students.

Roanoke City Public Schools leaders say improvement can still happen beyond the four labels.

“When we look beyond labels and examine the actual data, we see evidence that our investments in literacy, mathematics, student support services and school improvement efforts are making a meaningful difference for our students,” Superintendent Verletta White said in a news release. “The most important comparison is not between RCPS and other school divisions but between where we were last year and where we are this year.”

This year’s results rank three of the division’s 24 schools as distinguished, while 19 schools improved their overall scores even if they didn’t move up categories, according to the news release.

The school division’s chronic absenteeism rate declined by 4.4%, outpacing the state average, and the on-time graduation rate increased to 85.77%.

Seven of the division’s schools met expectations. Nine are ranked as needing intensive support and eight as approaching expectations.

Roanoke school officials noted that one reason for this is how the state identifies schools that have been identified for the federal Targeted Support and Improvement program. 

This year, 14 Roanoke schools were identified for such support, doubling last year’s seven. Across Virginia the number of TSI schools increased from 343 to 609.

This federal identification is based on the performance of individual student groups relative to statewide benchmarks to ensure that students of color, those with disabilities and those considered economically disadvantaged are performing as well as their peers.

Under the new framework, a school that has received the federal designation is automatically lowered one category in the state rankings, so a school meeting expectations overall, like Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, is instead categorized as approaching expectations.

The Virginia Department of Education plans to pilot a new improvement network for schools with this federal designation to support high-quality instruction as well as specific student subgroups, according to Schwenk.

The department will also roll out $26 million in competitive grants for schools identified federally as in need of comprehensive support.

Roanoke City Public Schools plans to participate in the state’s pilot program and pursue improvement grant funding, spokesperson Claire Mitzel said in a news release.

The state has 676 schools identified as needing additional support from the federal government. Of those, 17.5%, or 118 are located across 35 school divisions in Southwest and Southside Virginia.