Pressure on GA to fund lab schools; How a new literacy law will affect Henrico
Happy Friday, Henricoans!
This week’s edition includes an explanation of Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s push for lab school funding, a new child literacy law and how it will affect Henrico, the story of a Henrico principal who spent 17 years at two East End schools, the weekly profile, some personal news, and more!
PRESSURE IS ON
💻During a Thursday visit to CodeRVA Regional High School in Richmond, Gov. Glenn Youngkin said he wants the school to serve as a model and hub for seven more schools like it in a statewide network of computer science lab schools.
“We’ve already got all the partners ready to come around this — the universities, the colleges, the community colleges, school boards, higher ed centers, everything,” Youngkin said in an interview with the Citizen. “We will have seven of these (schools) in no time.”
If, that is, the General Assembly funds them.
CodeRVA to serve as model for other lab schools – if GA approves Youngkin’s $150M budget request
LITERACY LAW
📚Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Thursday signed the Virginia Literacy Act, a piece of legislation that will change Virginia’s literacy curriculum and require reading intervention services to young students who are struggling to read.
Delegate Carrie Coyner (R-Chesterfield), patron of the House bill, said the legislation will give students in Virginia the best chance they’ve ever had to read on grade level by third grade.
While there will be several changes affecting Henrico County Public Schools as a result of the legislation, the division already has a few of the requirements in place.
“Fortunately in Henrico, for the past couple of years, we’ve had a focus on literacy ever since [Superintendent Amy Cashwell] came,” Henrico School Board Chair Marcie Shea told the Citizen. “We already have the science of reading embedded in our literacy plan that we’ve been using in Henrico, so we’re kind of ahead of the curve on this bill.”
Youngkin signs “landmark” Virginia Literacy Act
FAILING SCHOOL TURNED TO TRIUMPH
👑When Ted Durniak became principal of Montrose Elementary in 2013, it was one of the two worst performing elementary schools in Henrico.
“When you have a school that’s underperforming for the amount of time that it was, what ends up happening is that everybody feels defeated and like it can’t be done,” Durniak said. “It takes a lot of time and energy to get people to start believing that yes, it is possible. We can get this done.”
Within five years after he took over, the school had earned its state accreditation by raising students’ standardized testing scores to the level required by the state and received the “Continuous School Improvement” award from the state education department.
Henrico principal to retire after 17 years leading East End schools
‘SON OF VARINA’
🎓Almost three years ago, Alton Coston III gave a commencement speech at Varina High School’s graduation ceremony, and the video went viral.
Coston talked openly about his struggle with depression stemming from the stress of not being able to afford college. Weeks after praying with his family, the College of William & Mary sent Coston not only an acceptance letter but also a full-tuition scholarship.
Coston accepted the offer, enrolled at William & Mary and has continued to make a name for himself.
This month, he was awarded the prestigious Truman Scholarship by the Harry S. Truman Foundation. The award, which was last given in 2008, provides funding for graduate studies, leadership training, career counseling and internship and fellowship opportunities within the federal government.
Continuing to soar: Varina HS graduate excels at W&M
PERSONAL NEWS
🏆I won two awards in the Virginia Press Association’s annual News and Advertising Contest, whose 2021 winning entries were announced this week!!
• second place in the Education Writing category for a package of three articles about efforts to remove a book from the libraries of Henrico high schools; the public school system’s efforts to attract a more diverse workforce; and the Henrico Education Association’s plans to push for collective bargaining.
• third place in the Education Writing category for a package of three articles about Reynolds Community College’s efforts to re-enroll lost students; Henrico Schools’ transgender policies; and data about the number of Virginia children who planned to attend public preschool.
Citizen Managing Editor Patty Kruszewski won first place in the feature writing category, and Citizen Publisher Tom Lappas earned three awards for Science and Environmental Writing, General News Writing and Breaking News Writing.
Henrico Citizen earns 6 Virginia Press Association awards
NEW SECTION
A few weeks ago, I started a new weekly section called Profiles in Henrico Education that comes out every Monday.
Do you know someone in public or private education in Henrico County who deserves to be profiled in this section? It could be a student, teacher, custodian, ect. E-mail me at anna@henricocitizen.com to tell me your ideas.
BEHIND THE SCENES
Me looking sharp yesterday while interviewing Youngkin about his lab school initiative. (Courtesy Christian Martinez)
MORE EDU NEWS
Virginia schools look to fill more than 1,000 teacher vacancies
Faison Center celebrates new early education center
No injuries reported on Henrico school bus rear-ended by van
That’s all for this week! As always, thanks for reading.
💬Let’s chat! Email me at Anna@HenricoCitizen.com to send thoughts, tips, or hot takes on the Netflix show “The Ultimatum.”
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