• More than 87 percent of Richmond City schools met accreditation standards based on the state’s Standards of Learning (SOLs)
• 85.7 percent of elementary schools scored 80 or above on the SOL reading tests
• 85.7 percent of elementary schools scored 80 or above on the SOL math tests
• 100 percent of high schools scored 80 or above in reading
• 87.5 percent of high schools scored 80 or above in math

• Nearly 84 percent of Richmond City schools met Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) requirements established by the federal government’s No Child Left Behind Act.

• Two RPS HS – Richmond Community & Open – were named among America’s best by US News & World Report.

• Two RPS Schools have been designated as Blue Ribbon schools by the U.S. Department of Education - JEB Stuart ES (2006) and Open High (2008). This is the highest honor a school can receive.

• Twenty-three schools recently received state recognitions as follows: Fairfield, George Mason, Mary Munford, and the former AV Norrell elementary schools received the Governor’s Award for Educational Excellence; Broad Rock, Clark Springs, Ginter Park, JEB Stuart, John B. Cary, Linwood Holton, Overby-Sheppard, Southampton, and Fox elementary schools, and Open and Community high schools received the Virginia Board of Education’s VIP Excellence Award; and Amelia Street, Bellevue, Chimborazo, Elizabeth D. Redd, JB Fisher, Miles Jones and Summer Hill elementary schools and Henderson Middle School received the Virginia Board of Education’s VIP Competence to Excellence Award.

• As part of the District’s New Direction Initiative, RPS established and expanded several programs to address increased academic rigor and relevancy, character education and environmental awareness. Pilot programs include Core Knowledge Academies at Fisher and Overby-Sheppard. Each operates under the philosophy that there is a body of lasting knowledge such as literary classics that every student should know. There are also partial foreign language immersion classes on the kindergarten level at William Fox and Southampton Elementary schools where math and science are taught in Spanish.

• RPS is 1 of 23 school districts in the state of Virginia with a Spanish foreign language program at every elementary school. Along with this, RPS continues to provide instrumental and choral music, art, and extra instructional activities and curricular opportunities.

• The Middle Years International Baccalaureate Program, located at Lucille Brown Middle School and Thomas Jefferson High School, serves students in grades 6 through 10.

• In an ongoing effort to bolster its graduation rate, RPS offers Performance Learning Centers at Richmond Technical Center and ACDC. The alternative centers are partially funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and provide a web-based curriculum as well as comprehensive support services for both parents and students.

• As part of the 21st Century workforce preparedness, RPS Career and Technical Education (CTE) offerings include 13 dual enrollment and 14 honors courses; and 76 certification opportunities in the areas of business and information technology, trade and industrial education, health and medical sciences, marketing and consumer services, adult and continuing education, and apprenticeship programs.

• RPS has 619 corporate and not-for-profit partnerships (e.g., Capital One, PMUSA and Ukrop’s, Communities in Schools); under the Micah Initiative 57 communities of faith at 24 schools provide 700 mentors; and 4,643 volunteers (valued at $3,522,378) support the students and families of RPS.

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