28 Henrico public schools earn 'Distinguished' classification, up from 10 last year

Every Henrico County public school has earned full accreditation from the state for the 2025-26 school year, while nearly three times as many county schools earned Virginia's highest academic performance designation as a year ago, according to new state accountability data released Oct. 7.

All Henrico schools are designated "Fully Accredited," according to the Virginia Department of Education, an increase from 96% last year, when three schools were accredited with conditions.

But this year's accreditation results aren't directly comparable with those from previous years.

Beginning with the 2025-26 school year, Virginia changed the way it determines accreditation, separating academic performance from the accreditation process. Accreditation now focuses on whether schools comply with state requirements governing their operation, while academic outcomes are measured separately through the state's School Performance and Support Framework.

Virginia's broader accountability framework itself is in its second year.

Under the new accreditation methodology, the state evaluates schools' compliance in 11 areas, including course offerings, leadership and staffing, and facilities and safety.

A fully accredited school is one that has submitted all required evidence to the Virginia Department of Education and had that evidence deemed satisfactory and approved as demonstrating compliance with state requirements.

Schools also can be designated "Conditionally Accredited" if at least one required piece of evidence is considered unsatisfactory or noncompliant. But none of Henrico's schools received that designation for 2025-26.

Although Henrico Schools officials celebrated having every school fully accredited, the designation by itself doesn't mean that every school is meeting the state's academic-performance expectations.

Separate data released through Virginia's School Performance and Support Framework, however, show significant academic improvement within the division.

Twenty-eight Henrico schools earned "Distinguished" status, the highest of Virginia's four performance categories, according to Henrico Schools. That's nearly three times the 10 schools that earned the designation a year earlier.

Statewide, 44% of schools earned "Distinguished" status, up from 23% last year.

A majority of Henrico's high schools are among the 28 schools receiving the Distinguished designation.

41 schools met or exceeded performance standards; 26 did not

Overall, 28 schools were labeled as "Distinguished," 13 were labeled "Meets Expectations," 18 were labeled "Approaching Expectations" and eight were labeled "Needs Intensive Support." (See chart above)

Henrico schools improved their performance framework scores by an average of five points, according to the division. Every middle school improved its score, as did 98% of elementary schools and 78% of high schools.

Nearly half of all Henrico schools moved up at least one performance category.

Glen Lea Elementary School recorded one of the state's largest improvements among elementary schools, according to Henrico Schools, increasing its performance framework score by more than 15 points.

"I congratulate all our schools on receiving full state accreditation!" Henrico Schools Superintendent Amy Cashwell said in announcing the results. "I am so proud of the hard work and consistent effort that has made this achievement possible."

Cashwell also called the division's performance growth "an incredible accomplishment," crediting teachers, specialists and school leaders for their work with students.

The performance ratings provide important context to the accreditation results because Virginia now treats the two measures separately.

The four ratings shown on the chart above are based upon a point system incorporating measures of mastery, student growth, readiness and graduation. Among the indicators used are test results and chronic absenteeism. Federal accountability designations for schools in which particular groups of students are underperforming also can affect a school's category.

The framework was first implemented last year as Virginia began separating academic accountability from accreditation.

SOL results showed modest improvement

When Virginia Standards of Learning exam results from the 2025-26 school year were released in August, they showed that Henrico public schools students made modest overall gains on the exams but also that the county continued to trail statewide performance in reading and mathematics among students taking the regular grades 3-8 tests.

Henrico's overall math SOL pass rate increased from 65.24% in 2024-25 to 66.64% in 2025-26, a gain of 1.4 percentage points. Statewide, the math pass rate increased by 0.4 percentage points during the same period.

Henrico's overall reading pass rate remained at about 70%, while its science pass rate was about 71%.

Third-grade math performance improved by about 3 percentage points from the previous year, while fifth-grade math was up 4 points over two years. Sixth-grade math improved by 5 points over two years, seventh-grade math increased by 5 points in one year, and the Algebra I pass rate rose 3 points from the previous year.

Henrico's end-of-course reading pass rate increased by 4 percentage points in one year to 86%, matching the statewide rate.

In science, Henrico's overall 71% pass rate matched Virginia's. The division's 79% end-of-course science pass rate was 4 percentage points higher than Virginia's 75% rate, while Henrico's 81% Earth Science pass rate exceeded the statewide rate by 9 points.