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Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) shares the new Virginia accountability system results, the School Performance and Support Framework, released from the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) Tuesday. As reflected in the reported data available from the VDOE on the updated School Quality Profiles.
The new School Performance and Support Framework represents an increase in rigor and expectations for schools across the state with a prioritization of every student reaching mastery. The new framework evaluates schools using multiple weighted measures, with student mastery being the most weighted, and also includes growth, readiness and graduation, which together determine each school’s Performance Category: Distinguished, On Track, Off Track, or Needs Intensive Support.
Some of the highlights from the VDOE data release include:
ACPS has one school as Distinguished, which is Lyles-Crouch
ACPS has three schools, Alexandria City High School, George Washington Middle School and Naomi L. Brooks Elementary School, which showed marked improvement and are On Track schools.
All five schools identified last year for needed improvement in specific student group areas showed improvement and met targets in those areas.
Additionally, ACPS schools were accredited with conditions under the new Standards of Quality checklist introduced in summer 2025, which included approximately 140 questions. Through that review, we identified two procedural items requiring correction related to the Code of Conduct Handbook and School Improvement Plan postings on the school webpages. We took immediate action in August 2025 to address them and notified VDOE to ensure full compliance.
As a school division, ACPS continues to support schools through a comprehensive, division-wide school improvement framework intentionally aligned to the needs reflected in the recent SOL assessments, subgroup data and chronic absenteeism data reported by VDOE. ACPS employs a continuous improvement cycle in which school division staff meet with schools in weekly division-wide monitoring meetings to provide targeted support in reading, mathematics and subgroup performance.
Through the Collaborative School Improvement Team (CSIT) Targeted Support Model, central office improvement teams serve as direct partners to schools, attending monthly comprehensive school improvement progress monitoring meetings, coordinating support after each implementation cycle, and providing guidance to ensure alignment with school division initiatives.
Schools regularly engage in structured, data-driven monthly monitoring with administrators, teachers and support staff. Meanwhile, central office teams reinforce the implementation of evidence-based strategies, prepare schools for quarterly progress reviews and coordinate specialized support. Additional supports include professional learning and coaching in specially designed instruction (SDI), co-teaching, tier two and three intervention, and robust English Learner services such as explicit English Language Development, Guided Language Acquisition Design, and project-based learning. This multilayered system ensures schools receive the differentiated resources, leadership coaching and instructional support necessary to sustain improvement and address performance trends identified in the VDOE School Quality Profile.
“These data give us a snapshot of student performance and will guide our ongoing work to strengthen the supports that help students grow,” said Superintendent Dr. Melanie Kay-Wyatt. “The state’s new accountability system raises the bar for all school divisions by emphasizing high expectations for every student, which has always been our focus. This shift does not signal a decline in performance, but an intentional strengthening to ensure students are challenged and engage in rigorous, high-quality instruction. As we move through the 2025–26 school year guided by our strategic plan, I recognize the important work underway and remain supportive of division-wide efforts to advance academic achievement for students across all categories, and I am confident in our direction and the continued progress of our students and staff.”
State SOL assessments were given to students in grades three through eight in English Language Arts (Reading/Writing), Math, Science and History/Social Sciences and in high school core subjects assessed by end-of-course exams. Additional information on the VDOE SOL pass rate results are available online.
