Area schools meet SOL accreditation

All area schools in Waynesboro, Staunton and Augusta County were part of the 98 percent of Virginia schools meeting full Standards of Learning accreditation, the Virginia Department of Education announced Wednesday.

The area schools met or exceeded SOL benchmarks on 2008-09 testing in the four core academic areas.

India Harris, secondary education and testing coordinator for the Waynesboro Schools, said reading scores across the school division “were all in the 80s and 90s.”

At the elementary level, all math scores were in the 90th percentile except for an 89 at William Perry Elementary.

Harris said with scores in the school division now regularly in the higher range, it is easier for teachers to extend teaching the test.

“They are learning problem solving and higher order skills,’’ Harris said.

Harris cited as an example a Wenonah Elementary classroom where students are working in a paperless environment, using computers to do presentations and solve problems.

Mickey Fenn, director of testing for the Staunton Schools, said five of the city’s six schools registered scores above 85 in science.

Fenn said the challenges presented by SOLs have actually energized that city’s teachers to work together on strategies to help students.

“They come up with goals, numerical goals that are measurable,’’ Fenn said. “And when they attain that, there is so much energy and excitement.”

Patricia I. Wright, Virginia’s superintendent of public instruction, said with the SOL results announced Wednesday, “Virginia’s public schools have accomplished what many 10 years ago thought was impossible.”

Still, beyond accountability at both the state and federal level, students need to leave a K-12 education with life skills, said Sue Wright, director of instruction for the Waynesboro Schools.

Wright said that school district has classes in finance, essential technology skills and other practical knowledge.

“Instead of mastering the SOLs, we are using the standards to help children become problem solvers, set goals and be creative thinkers,’’ Wright said.