Racist incidents have become 'normalized' at one Henrico school, students say; Henrico Schools terminates partnership with Achievable Dream Academy

Dec 15, 2023

We talked to several students of color at Deep Run High School who said their high school experience had been tainted by racist incidents, insensitive comments from teachers and peers, and a lack of accountability from HCPS administration.

The Henrico School Board voted yesterday to end its partnership with An Achievable Dream Academy, which means that students at Highland Springs Elementary and Oak Avenue Complex will transition back to their zoned schools next school year.

CodeVA held a family coding event for Henrico elementary schoolers and their families, which included a robotics showcase, software programming classes and fun STEM activities in celebration of computer science education week.

'Our school doesn’t take it seriously'

“Oh, you’re taking AP Bio? I didn’t think you’d be the fit for it.”

“How are you going to fit all of your hair into a swim cap?”

These are some of the comments that Deep Run High School students Emma and Kelly (not their actual names) say they hear from their white peers and teachers on a regular basis. As Black students at a predominantly white school, Emma and Kelly said that microaggressions, racist comments, and even slurs have become normalized in their school environment.

“Every year that I’ve gone to high school the last three years, there’s not one year where I haven’t – there’s not even one month at my school where I haven’t encountered some type of racially motivated aggression,” Emma, a student at Deep Run, said. “Even if it’s small things like walking into the restroom and seeing racial slurs towards Black people on the stalls. That’s heartbreaking.”

The Henrico School Board voted Thursday to end its investment in An Achievable Dream Certified Academies, the nonprofit that currently serves students at Highland Springs Elementary and the Oak Avenue Complex.

HCPS has partnered with An Achievable Dream since the 2017-2018 school year, first establishing the nontraditional academic program for kindergarten through second grade students at Highland Springs Elementary and adding a grade level each year.

Highland Springs’ Achievable Dream Academy has struggled with low test scores and literacy rates during the past few years, to the dismay and frustration of school board members. Only 9% of second graders were reading at grade level during the 2019-2020 school year, compared with 52% during the 2016-2017 school year. Only 3% of fifth graders were reading at grade level in 2019-2020.

It may come as a shock for non-tech-savvy parents and grandparents, but their elementary-schoolers are already learning how to code.

On Dec. 9, Henrico elementary school students and their families mastered binary codes, learned about algorithms, maneuvered computer-controlled robots, and were introduced to the basics of cybersecurity during an event held by CodeVA, a computer science education nonprofit.

CodeVA’s “Family Code Adventure” event, hosted at the Oak Avenue Complex in Highland Springs, marked the end of “Computer Science Education Week” – now officially observed in Virginia. On Dec. 1, Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed an official proclamation that designated Dec. 4-10 as a week to celebrate computer science education and opportunities in Virginia’s classrooms.