Warren County Schools Improve, But Federal Rules Lower Seven Ratings

All nine Warren County public schools are fully accredited, and school officials say the latest state accountability results show improvement across the division — even though federal rules lowered the final performance rating for seven schools.

Heather Bragg, assistant superintendent of instruction for Warren County Public Schools, presented the newly released 2026 accreditation and accountability results to the Warren County School Board on Wednesday, Oct. 7, just hours after the Virginia Department of Education released the data.

WCPS Accreditation and Accountability Results 2026-2027

A.S. Rhodes Elementary received a Distinguished rating, Warren County Middle School received Meets Expectations, and the remaining seven schools were listed as Approaching Expectations.

But Bragg told the School Board those final categories require some explanation.

Based on their School Performance and Support Framework scores alone, she said all nine Warren County schools reached the Meets Expectations level or higher. Federal accountability rules tied to the performance of specific student groups moved seven down one category.

“So there’s good news here about the direction that we’re moving, about the growth that we’ve seen on the overall performance categories,” Bragg said.

No Warren County school received the lowest rating, Needs Intensive Support.

All Nine Schools Fully Accredited

Bragg emphasized that accreditation and the School Performance and Support Framework, or SPSF, are separate systems.

Accreditation assesses whether schools comply with Virginia requirements in areas such as staffing, facilities, instructional programs, and public reporting.

All nine Warren County schools are fully accredited: A.S. Rhodes Elementary, E. Wilson Morrison Elementary, Hilda J. Barbour Elementary, Leslie Fox Keyser Elementary, Ressie Jeffries Elementary, Skyline Middle, Warren County Middle, Skyline High, and Warren County High.

The SPSF looks more directly at school and student performance.

The framework measures elementary and middle schools using academic mastery, student growth, and readiness. High schools are measured using mastery, readiness, and graduation.

SOL results in reading, mathematics, and science contribute to the scores, along with factors such as chronic absenteeism. Depending on grade level, the framework also considers advanced coursework, career and technical education, and other measures of preparation for college, employment, or military service.

Schools receive an overall score and one of four ratings: Distinguished, Meets Expectations, Approaching Expectations, or Needs Intensive Support.

The system is now in its second year. This year, the state changed the names of the two middle categories, replacing “On Track” with Meets Expectations and “Off Track” with Approaching Expectations.

A.S. Rhodes Among Virginia’s Top 20

A.S. Rhodes Elementary posted one of Warren County’s strongest results.

The school earned an overall framework score of 92.5, placing it in the Distinguished category.

A.S. Rhodes also rose 9.63 points from the previous year, placing it among Virginia’s top 20 schools for gains in overall SPSF scores.

Warren County Middle School earned an 86.9 and received a Meets Expectations rating.

Bragg said nearly every school improved its overall score. Warren County High School declined by just 0.4 points, a change she characterized as essentially holding steady.

The improvement was particularly noticeable at the elementary and middle school levels.

Every Warren County elementary and middle school earned more growth points in both reading and mathematics, Bragg said.

The local improvement mirrors gains reported across Virginia. Statewide, schools increased their SPSF scores by about four to five points on average between 2025 and 2026, and 38% improved their overall performance category.

More than 99% of Virginia schools are fully accredited.

Virginia also changed how it calculated student growth for the latest results. The revised method gives schools credit when students make significant academic progress, regardless of where they started academically.

Why Seven Schools Were Moved Down

Perhaps the most significant explanation Bragg offered Wednesday concerned why seven Warren County schools are officially listed as Approaching Expectations despite having framework scores that otherwise placed them at Meets Expectations.

The answer lies in the connection between Virginia’s accountability system and federal requirements.

Federal accountability examines the performance of specific student groups, including students with disabilities, English learners, economically disadvantaged students, and racial groups.

When a school is federally identified for one of those groups, Bragg explained, Virginia requires the school to be moved down one overall performance category.

Six Warren County schools were federally identified because of the performance of students with disabilities. Hilda J. Barbour Elementary was identified for its English learner subgroup.

As a result, seven schools moved from what otherwise would have been Meets Expectations to Approaching Expectations.

The federal Targeted Support and Improvement, or TSI, system uses statewide performance to establish its thresholds.

Bragg explained that the threshold is connected to the performance of schools in the bottom 5% statewide. Because that calculation cannot be completed until schools across Virginia finish testing, local divisions do not know the exact target beforehand.

“The threshold score that we have to achieve for federal accountability is a constantly changing target,” Bragg said.

Three Schools Move Out Of Lowest Category

Even with federal identification, the latest results represent a significant improvement for several Warren County schools.

E. Wilson Morrison Elementary, Leslie Fox Keyser Elementary and Ressie Jeffries Elementary were in the Needs Intensive Support category last year.

Although they remain federally identified, their underlying framework scores improved enough that the one-category reduction now leaves them at Approaching Expectations instead.

As a result, Warren County has no schools in the Needs Intensive Support category.

Statewide, Virginia also reported progress among schools receiving federal assistance. Sixteen of 49 eligible Title I schools exited Comprehensive Support and Improvement status, the strictest level of federal monitoring aimed at addressing academic gaps.

The state is also making $26.7 million in federal School Improvement Grant funding available to schools serving some of Virginia’s highest-need students. Virginia plans a separate state-funded improvement network for schools identified for Targeted Support and Improvement.

Division Focuses On Students With Disabilities

Students with disabilities remain Warren County’s most common area of federal identification, and Bragg said the division began addressing the issue before the new scores were released.

Special education teachers received summer training on instructional resources, specially designed instruction and co-teaching. Additional training is planned for November.

The division also held an IEP academy for new special education teachers, provided co-teaching training at five schools, and expanded support for special education instructional assistants.

Two special education teachers are serving as division-wide induction coaches for new special education teachers.

Warren County is also working with the Training and Technical Assistance Center at George Mason University on specially designed instruction and co-teaching. Bragg said the state-supported assistance costs the school division nothing.

For English learners, the division is offering professional development to help K-12 teachers better support students in general education classrooms. Title III-funded tutoring is also underway.

Additional work will focus on the English learner needs identified at Hilda J. Barbour Elementary.

Another Round Of Changes Ahead

Schools will have to adjust again this academic year.

Bragg said Virginia is changing SOL proficiency scores for reading and mathematics. A score of 400 will no longer serve as the standard passing score across those assessments. Instead, the proficiency mark will vary by test.

Virginia is also changing the elementary and middle school growth measure again — the third year the growth calculation has changed.

At the high school level, reading, mathematics, and science mastery calculations will move away from the four-year cohort method and focus instead on students’ performance on the tests that year.

Despite those moving pieces, School Board members focused Wednesday on the progress reflected in Warren County’s results.

Asked when the division last had every school scoring at least at the Meets Expectations level before federal adjustments, Bragg said she could not remember it happening during her time with Warren County Public Schools.

“In the time that I have been here, which I’m entering my 10th year with Warren County, I can’t remember a time when every school was at Meets Expectations,” Bragg said.

“That’s a huge, huge accomplishment.”