Four county schools cited

WOODBRIDGE, Va. -- Gov. Timothy M. Kaine announced Tuesday that 153 Virginia public schools -- including four in Prince William County -- have earned the 2010 Governor's Award for Educational Excellence.

To qualify for the award, schools and school divisions must meet all state and federal achievement benchmarks for at least two consecutive years. They must also achieve applicable excellence goals for elementary reading, enrollment in Algebra I by grade 8, enrollment in college-level courses, high school graduation, attainment of advanced diplomas, increased attainment of career and industry certifications and participation in the Virginia Preschool Initiative.

Schools and school divisions also earn bonus points for other performance measures, including the Governor's Nutrition and Physical Activity Scorecard.

Four elementary schools -- Bristow Run, Old Bridge, Springwoods and Swans Creek -- were the Prince William County Public Schools bestowed with this honor.

The award is the highest honor under the Virginia Index of Performance (VIP) incentive program created by the Board of Education in 2007 to advance Kaine's "competence to excellence" agenda promoting advanced learning and achievement.

"My administration has made it a priority to move beyond merely meeting standards to truly encouraging excellent performance in our schools," said Kaine, who's leaving office at the end of the week. "I'm pleased to recognize the many Virginia educators and students whom stepped up the challenge of exceeding the minimum expectations of the Standards of Learning to receive the coveted VIP awards this year."

"We have outstanding teachers and we try to stay focused on our school mission and make sure our students are learning to their fullest potential each day," said Andrew Buchheit, principal at Bristow Run Elementary in Bristow.

Bristow Run has been recognized as a Prince William County School of Excellence for the past nine years, along with Old Bridge and Springwoods.

The Virginia Department of Education also announced Tuesday that 15 school divisions and 288 schools earned the Virginia Board of Education Excellence Award, the second-tier honor in the VIP.

Those honored included 18 schools from Prince William County and Round Elementary School in Manassas City.

Prince William elementary schools getting the Board of Education Excellence Awards are Alvey, Antietam, Ashland, Bennett, Buckland Mills, Cedar Point, Henderson, Lake Ridge, Marshall, Montclair, Mountain View, Penn, Rosa Parks, Vaughan, Victory and Westridge. Porter Traditional School and Pennington School were also awarded the honor.

Seventeen school divisions, including Prince William Schools and Manassas Park City Schools, earned the Board of Education Competence to Excellence Award for having met all state and federal benchmarks for at least two consecutive years and are making progress toward the goals of the governor and the board.

Individual schools receiving the awards were Manassas Park Elementary and Manassas Park Middle, Battlefield High School, Belmont Elementary, Brentsville District High School, Dumfries Elementary, Forest Park High School, Tyler Elementary, Nokesville Elementary, Occoquan Elementary, Osbourn Park High School, Rockledge Elementary, McAuliffe Elementary, Sudley Elementary and Ellis Elementary.

Staff writer Kipp Hanley can be reached at 703-878-8062.