For Immediate Release: December 21, 2022
Media Contact: Charles B. Pyle
RICHMOND —The National Association of ESEA State Program Administrators has designated Kerrydale Elementary in Prince William County and Bayside Sixth Grade Campus School in Virginia Beach as National ESEA Distinguished Schools for 2022-2023.
Kerrydale Elementary was selected for closing achievement gaps between student groups. The school serves a diverse population of approximately 333 students. Of these students, 12.6% receive special education services, 66% are economically disadvantaged and 53% are English language learners.
Bayside Sixth Grade Campus was selected for exceptional student performance for two consecutive years. Seventy-five percent of the school’s 317 students are economically disadvantaged. Bayside is the only sixth grade campus in Virginia Beach.
“Congratulations to Kerrydale Elementary and Bayside Sixth Grade Campus’s students, teachers, principals, staff and communities for being recognized as National ESEA Distinguished Schools and for their success in raising student achievement,” Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow said. “This is an especially significant designation given that under our federal accountability system, elementary schools must meet annual benchmarks for increasing the percentage of students achieving grade-level proficiency in reading and mathematics.”
Both schools will be recognized during the 2023 National ESEA Conference, February 1-4, 2023, in Indianapolis.
ESEA is the abbreviation for the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (most recently reauthorized by the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015). The law requires states to establish long-term and interim goals for increasing student achievement in reading and mathematics.
Title I of ESEA provides funds to all of Virginia’s school divisions for supplemental educational support to eligible schools. The focus of this program is to raise the achievement level of students at risk of academic failure due to poverty and other factors.
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