Objective 1: Engage Every Student

We believe every child is an artist, maker, and creator. Albemarle County recognizes and embraces that through the arts students learn to communicate, collaborate, create, and think critically. 

The opportunity for students to engage with the fine arts in Albemarle County has evolved in the past year. Not only are there more course offerings for students to choose from, more students are taking advantage of those offerings than in recent history. 

With the introduction of the Fine Arts Pathway at Albemarle High School last year, and the beginning of the Fine Arts Pathway at Western Albemarle High School this year, students have a clear understanding of the courses necessary to be accomplished practitioners of their chosen field. 

Additionally, the digital music labs present at Monticello High School and Albemarle High School have opened opportunities for students who have not been engaged with the arts to express themselves creatively through music.

During the 2014-2015 school year there were 18,047 student performances or displays for an audience of 71,952. These performances included both division level honor events, parades and festivals as well as events at each of our schools.

We believe our approach to Career and Technical Education encourages students to learn how things work, to experiment, invent and redesign things through multiple iterations and understand the processes of engineering, design, and entrepreneurship. 

CTE Course Enrollments by Program Area

» Download data for CTE enrollments

CTE faculty outreach efforts assist in the development of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, & Mathematics) projects across content areas and schools. CTE spaces are accessible to students throughout the days to be utilized for projects in other courses or to pursue personal interests.

The redesign of the middle school CTE curriculum continues to be a driver of positive change. General enrollment continues to grow in CTE courses, high school credit-bearing course are being added, and teachers are connecting with elementary schools to develop increased capacity for project-based learning, STEAM opportunities, and advanced manufacturing technologies in the lower grades.

The interest in mechatronics , engineering design, and entrepreneurship is especially high across the Division. Plans are underway to redesign the high school CTE curriculum for vertical alignment and to include pathways for meaningful credentialing. ​​​​

We believe that when students graduate from Albemarle County Public Schools that they will have an understanding and be able to follow a physically active lifestyle that promotes good health and wellness.

A key tool for lifelong learners to help make decisions that promote good health and wellness is having a goal setting process and continuously evaluating personal goals. In Albemarle County Public Schools we use the Plan, Do, Study, Act model when setting SMART goals in an age appropriate manner within the physical education curriculum.

By simply giving students time and space to set goals, make progress towards them, and reflect on their progress we provide an opportunity for students to take ownership of their health and wellness. Additionally, students are prepared with a process through which they can both maintain good health and wellness or find routes for improvement.

Individual student goals may lead them to participation in one of many Albemarle County Public Schools sponsored sports or activities. ACPS student athletes are met with highly qualified coaches and mentors that help them reach team and individual aspirations. ACPS students continue to earn opportunities to compete beyond local, district, or even regional levels and match up at both state and national competitions every year. Students participating in sports and activities have also secured opportunities to continue at the college level with some finding success at the professional level.​​

We believe international and multilingual students bring our school division the capacity to advance 21st century learning for all students by giving them opportunities to communicate across language and culture, to connect with a global community and economy, and to contribute to the development of a rich tapestry of cultural diversity that is the civic, social, and economic foundation of our region and country.

Our international and linguistically diverse students succeed in one of the most rigorous high school programs in our schools: They meet and exceed Virginia’s graduation requirements while simultaneously becoming fluent in a foreign language and adjusting to a new culture. Our bilingual and bicultural graduates are poised to become transformative leaders in the community and the world. Over the last six years, former and current students in Albemarle County’s high school ESOL program have consistently graduated at higher rates than their state peers. The gap in graduation rates between all ACPS students and those who participated in the high school ESOL program has decreased during this time.

These results are due to programs like the immersion excursion summer program for high school ESOL students that earned $20,000 from local grants and engaged students in experiential, project-based learning. They are due to the hard work of our teachers​ and the incredible potential of our students. In addition to these successes, the ESOL program faces challenges in ameliorating opportunity gaps as evidenced by content-based assessments. The program will build on its success in language development and programming in high school to improve these persistent inequities. ​

We believe that children with disabilities should be educated in the least restrictive environment using the most current, research based, methodologies and technologies in order that they be provided a meaningful educational benefit (Free and Appropriate Public Education).

The focus of the department of special education is to build the capacity of our schools, teachers and teaching assistants to work with children as much as possible in the regular education classroom. Efforts to include students in their neighborhood schools within regular classrooms has been a priority as evidenced by professional development opportunities, supports put in place within the regular education environment (i.e. assistive technology, increased staffing, access to related services at base schools).

Over the past four years the percentage of special education students included in the regular education classroom has remained high for Albemarle County, and far exceeded the State average. Our efforts to prepare every learning environment to be appropriate for special education students has resulted in over 70% of students being in the regular education classroom for over 80% of their day.