Waynesboro Schools received its own report card from the Commonwealth in the form of accreditation from the Virginia Department of Education.
For the 2023-2024 school year, the school system’s six schools are accredited.
Wenonah and Westwood Hills elementary schools are accredited, while Waynesboro High, Kate Collins Middle, and Berkeley Glenn and William Perry elementary schools are accredited with conditions.
“What’s distracting to me, you guys, is it’s a snapshot of work that goes on all year long. Really a snapshot, and I’m not sure that that’s a real great judge, but that’s how this system works,” Waynesboro Schools Executive Director of Instruction Tim Teachey said to Waynesboro School Board at its regular October 2024 meeting.
Teachey pointed out that celebration is necessary for the fact that Wenonah Elementary reached level one in all six categories of accreditation.
“Take a second and just look at Wenonah, and the work that that staff has done,” Teachey said as he showed the school board data on all six schools.
He added that while in his current position with Waynesboro Schools, Wenonah Elementary was federally identified as needing support, but not anymore.
“They have lots to celebrate,” he said.
Teachey, who previously served as principal of Waynesboro High, said that in his current position, Kate Collins Middle has never earned level one in reading. For 2023-2024, the school’s students earned level one in reading.
All six schools earned level one in overall English achievement.
Changes are coming to accreditation standards, according to Teachey, including federal changes that will no longer reflect growth measures in a school system and the language used to describe accreditation.
“The growth was so important for us because we have groups of students that are, by definition, underperforming. And, it’s pretty disturbing to think that we’re not going to get the credit that we were getting for growth, because that’s really what it’s about,” Waynesboro Schools Superintendent Dr. Jeff Cassell said of the school system’s diverse population.
Teachey said that while Waynesboro High earned level three in chronic absenteeism, a problem that was heightened during and since the COVID-19 pandemic at all American schools, the school system’s other five schools reached level one in the category. The high school’s ranking was 2 percent from being level two in attendance and the school would have been accredited without conditions.
“So that’s the only thing right now that’s keeping the high school from being accredited [without conditions],” Teachey said.
Virginia will begin working on an accreditation process that mirrors the federal process and the 2024-2025 will be the first school year during which Virginia students are judged within the new system.
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Rebecca Barnabi
