Objective 3: Improve Opportunity & Achievement

Starting with a pilot in a single middle school four years ago, our 1:1 technology initiative has expanded to all secondary students and all students in grades 3-5. By eliminating the technology divide for students we are increasing their opportunities to connect and interact with people around the world, and to participate in virtual learning.

Our increased focus on improving opportunities for students has also resulted in a 39% decrease in the number of behavior related discipline incidents in the past five years. Students who see school as a place to find opportunities and success are less likely to need disciplinary actions, which increases their access to opportunities and achievement.

Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID)

We believe all students have the talent, ability, and interest to be successful; however some students may face more challenging paths to success. AVID is a program designed to identify and support students who may not have appropriate strategies for navigating school, who may struggle to stay motivated, or whose parents may not have attended college.

A chart that displays the increase in participation in AVID from 2009 through 2015.

In 2015, the first full-program AVID class graduated from Albemarle High School. These students started the AVID program in 7th grade at Jack Jouett Middle School in the fall of 2009. This AVID group had 16 graduates and all 16 will go on to pursue higher education. One of the AVID students in this class won the nationally prestigious Emily Couric Scholarship.

Members of the 2015 graduating AVID class.

Members of the 2015 AVID graduating class will attend the following schools in the fall of 2015: University of Virginia, Longwood University, Liberty University, Old Dominion University, Mary Washington University, Roanoke College, George Mason University, Virginia Commonwealth University, DePaul University, Christopher Newport University, and more.

Academies (MESA, HMSA, & ESA)

Albemarle County offers three specialty academies for students with specific career interests. Each academy offers a blended learning environment with a focus on an identified career growth industry. The Math Engineering and Science Academy (MESA) opened in 2009, the Health and Medical Science Academy (HMSA) opened in 2012 and the Environmental Studies Academy (ESA) opened in 2014. The academies collectively help meet the academic needs of 470 students across the four grade levels and offer students expanded educational opportunities.

Over 2.4 million in scholarships and merit based awards for the students that have graduated from our academies
Over 45 different internships (clinical setting, biology labs, chemistry labs, biotech companies, clinical research labs, vet clinics, hospitals, engineering firms, computer science firms)
Nine students have advanced to the international Science Fair (ISEF)
One world Championship: International Robotic Sailing Regatta (IRSR)
Two robotics teams have advanced to Globals
Two state championships: Academic team
Two state championships: VHSL Math league - also a 2nd and a third place
Over 200 students have received individual recognition in a competition (science fair, robotics, destination imagination, etc)
2 Award Winners National Junior Science and Humanities Symposium
20+ students have attended summer residential Governor's School
Four students will have published research paper as high school students

ACPS Academies engage in 21st century skills and learning and create a strong foundation for post-secondary education or career readiness through courses that feature increased lab work, build and design projects, integrated research projects, case studies and internships. All of these, along with the increased capacity to work with professionals within the student’s area of interest, help to bring authenticity and real-world experiences into their education, and to prepare ACPS students to become the leaders of the next generation.

Maker Spaces

We believe that when students are driven by their interests and passions, when they engage their hands and minds together, they will learn in deep and holistic ways.

The maker-infused curriculum concept has changed the impact of education for children and teens across our division. Maker work began with one high school library music studio and summer school “Maker Camps” at three elementary schools. Over time the adoption of maker strategies has grown to impact students across the Division.

Mechatronics labs at every middle school and now at Monticello High School, Maker Spaces in high school libraries, elementary libraries, and now at Burley Middle School, and maker activity in classrooms in every school, have allowed a much wider range of students to find success, while dramatically increasing engagement.

A sample of the success was apparent this summer when Stone-Robinson Elementary School was able to compare the summer progress of students in the first year of that school’s summer Maker Camp with the progress of similar students who attended a more traditional summer school. The students who attended the Maker Camp reached grade level or above.

On-Time Graduation

We believe the culmination of a good education is recognized through on-time graduation from high school. Albemarle County students have an on-time graduation rate higher than the state as a whole, with nearly every student graduating on time.

As a Division, Albemarle County graduated nearly 95% of students on time in the 2013-14 academic year. That is an increase of over 7 percentage points from the 2007-08 academic year and is 5 percentage points better than the state.

Individually our high schools graduate well over 90% of their students on time. The combined efforts of teachers, administrators, counselors, and support staff help make every child able to graduate on time.

Graduating students leave our school prepared to be lifelong-learners, with skills and experiences that will carry them through college, careers, and civic duty. Our students will become the teachers, entrepreneurs, problems solvers, thinkers, and statesmen of tomorrow. The learning and opportunities we provide will be the foundation for fruitful futures for all of our students.

» Download data for On-Time Graduation Rates - 2013 through 2015

Virtual Learning

We believe that opportunities for learning in the 21st century are not limited by time, day, or location and can be dynamic and an increasingly individualized experience through integration of modern technology.

A chart displaying enrollment in ACPS virtual courses from 2012 to 2016.

As part of the Digital Learning Initiative, Albemarle County Public Schools began a focused effort in 2012 to develop and administer virtual courses. The development process began with Economics and Personal Finance. Concurrently, during the Spring of 2013 ACPS developed Health I and II in a virtual format that was piloted over the summer and introduced to all students in the 2013-14 school year. At the conclusion of the 2014-15 school year, all students planning for the following school year could select from five virtual courses that now include Physical Education I and II, which was developed throughout 2014-15 and successfully piloted in the 2015 High School Summer Program. It is anticipated that almost 600 credits will be earned through ACPS virtual courses in 2015-16.

With every iteration of each virtual course student feedback was an important piece to ensure the student experience is of the highest quality and students are able to take advantage of the affordances that modern technology bring to a virtual learning experience.

World Languages

We believe that languages are at the heart of what makes us human: expressing thoughts and ideas, making new friends, and learning about the world. Learning other languages not only helps us meet new people and explore new places; being multilingual improves attention, creativity, problem solving, self-control, and organization. Multilingual students are better prepared to succeed in a global economy, connect across cultures, and be the problem-solvers our communities need to meet their greatest civic, social, and economic potential. Our students acquire multilingual and multicultural competencies best when they begin learning in early childhood.

The school board mandates the expansion of world languages to elementary schools throughout the county. The Department of Instruction has created a plan to continue and complete the expansion of the immersion program by 2021. The initial school to pilot this program, Cale Elementary, has had great success in its FLES and immersion programs, with demand for spaces in the program outstripping supply, even as the school has doubled capacity in two years.

The graph above shows the rapid expansion of enrollment at Cale Elementary School since 2012. Full implementation will occur in 2017-2018. Additional schools have applied to receive planning funds to implement similar programs in 2016-2017. This expansion will have implications for both middle and high school language programs in the future. Challenges will include continuing to recruit and retain the highest quality multilingual teachers to implement the program. The nascent success of the elementary world languages program is poised to advance further the success of the county’s current secondary world languages program that has used a new curriculum to improve students’ language capacity and achieve higher scores on national metrics such as the STAMP and AP assessments.

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