Recently Added – Page 2

Storyboards showcase Compass to 2020 progress

Visitors and employees have long admired all the framed student artwork in the School Administration Building’s hallways and offices. The student-made pieces are now joined by two storyboards commissioned to illustrate progress on the school division’s strategic framework, Compass to 2020. “When you come to the end of a strategic framework or plan you have a…

Tallwood and Kempsville high schools earn Energy Star certification

Tallwood and Kempsville high schools recently earned Energy Star Certification from the Environmental Protection Agency, bringing the school division’s total certifications to 30 buildings compared to only six buildings six years ago. These two new certifications also give Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VBCPS) the largest inventory of Energy Star facilities in Hampton Roads, helping…

Walck receives Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching

Princess Anne High School science teacher Dr. Camilla Walck is among 213 mathematics and science teachers named by President Obama as recipients of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST). In a press release issued by the White House Aug. 22, President Obama said, “The recipients of this award are integral…

Principals point to staff, students, parents as key to SOL success

There was a special binder at College Park Elementary School that fifth-grade students clamored to see each and every school day. Its pages were made of the same paper as any other in the building, and its plastic covers bore no exceptional design or print. Yet, each fifth-grader was keenly aware of the binder and…

Creeds steps up its multiplication practice for students

It started with a photo Casey Conger saw on Twitter in October. A school in California marked a set of stairs with vocabulary words for students to see more often. Eager to make the most of her own students’ transition time, the Creeds Elementary School principal started thinking about the two stairwells in her school.…

Third annual Title I conference held Aug. 16

The school division’s Title I program hosted its third annual summer conference Aug. 16, attended by more than 400 people and featuring various speakers. Following remarks by Title I Programs Director Tina Alsop and Executive Director for Elementary Teaching and Learning Lesley Hughes, William Parrett and Kathleen Budge discussed how to turn high-poverty schools into…

Freeman receives Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators

Chris Freeman, AP environmental science teacher at Kellam High School, has been selected to receive the 2016 Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators (PIAEE). The White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) administers the award in partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to recognize outstanding teachers and students in grades K-12 who employ…

Cox and Bayside collaborate to create academic adventures

The sidewalks in front of Cox High School typically are not filled with chalk drawings of stick figures, hopscotch squares, smiley faces and other doodles. And it’s not common for an intense game of Duck, Duck, Goose to break out steps away from the school’s front doors. However, that was the scene the first week…

Parent workshop provides overview of gifted education program

More than 40 parents in room C9 at Landstown Middle School sat, stood and leaned for one of the first breakout sessions of the morning. “How many of you have gifted students?” asked Dornswalo Wilkins-McCorey, instructional specialist in the school division’s Office of Gifted Education. Most attendees raised their hands. One parent responded, “We don’t…

Aspiring entrepreneurs develop plans for their passions

One word. That is what rising ninth graders in the new Entrepreneurship and Business Academy at Kempsville High School were asked to use to describe how they felt at the end of third day of the Envision Lead Grow program. Energized. Encouraged. Knowledgeable. Accomplished. Composed. Organized. Impacted. Empowered. The 20 female students also expressed feeling…

School division earns national sustainability award

Beginning in September 2008, Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VBCPS) has collected recycling material in each of its schools. Since then, VBCPS has diverted 8,900 tons from the waste stream. That is the equivalent to more than one and one-half million trees. For its innovative sustainability practices and effective environmental education, VBCPS was named a 2016…

Hampton Roads school divisions gather to discuss excellence through equity

“Don’t make this conflict inside of me harder.” “Does every English speaker ace English?” “The way that someone looks should not define them.” “I listened. Did you listen?” Those messages reflected the voices and hearts of 13 students from several school divisions who took to the stage to perform an opening number that set the…

Smith, White named Instructional Leaders of the Year

At the close of the 2016 Administrators’ Conference, Superintendent Dr. Aaron Spence gave away the conference’s highest honors, the Elementary and Secondary Instructional Leader of the Year awards. At the elementary level, College Park Elementary School’s Dr. Sterling White was named the Instructional Leader of the Year. Salem Middle School Principal Dr. Jim Smith was…

First Colonial High School educator named gifted association teacher of the year

Growing up, there was no way that Missy Sullivan would ever become a teacher. Her parents were both educators and her childhood dream was to become a flight attendant. But one day in college while walking by an elementary school the life of this now-First Colonial High School gifted teacher changed. “I’m a big believer…

Superintendent’s Student Advisory Council leads workshop for teachers on best engagement practices

As class was just getting underway, the instructor immediately caught students’ attention with his first instructions, “We’re going to start off with a personality test.” Although everyone in the room was a Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VBCPS) student or staff member, this wasn’t your typical class. The instructor was Reed Curtin, rising senior in the Mathematics…

Summer classes offer insight into National Board Certification

Ocean Lakes Elementary fifth-grade teacher Erin Williams always had National Board Certification in the back of her mind but never thought she was up to the challenge. “Honestly, the students I had this year taught me a lot about perseverance, commitment and the ability to overcome challenges,” said the 13-year teaching veteran. “If I have…

Riding the digital wave at summer ITEC mini conference

Attendees carried coffee, snapped photos with smartphones, typed on tablets and connected with laptops. Paper was nowhere to be found. That was by design. “For those of you who have just arrived, you’ll notice we don’t have schedules on the chairs, we have a QR code,” Sheila Teri announced to teachers finding seats in Corporate…

Employee Input Survey results are in…

What do employees think about working for Virginia Beach City Public Schools? The results of this year’s Employee Input Survey, presented to the School Board on June 21, revealed that 85 percent of employees agreed they are proud to work in Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VBCPS), while an even higher 88 percent agreed the…

Asbestos (AHERA) Management Plans Available

The Environmental Protection Agency, as required by the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) of October 1986, requires all school facilities to have an inspection for asbestos-containing building materials and to have a detailed management plan identifying these materials. The AHERA Management Plans are available in each school’s main office for review by parents, teachers…

Program helps first-year principals

Dr. Karin DiMaggio knew that although it was her first year as principal of Glenwood Elementary School, she wasn’t alone. “I knew that I had a lifeline—just someone that I could call anytime who was in my same shoes,” she added referring to her mentor, veteran principal Krista Barton-Arnold of Parkway Elementary School. The two…