The announcement of the Exemplar Performance Awards allows the Virginia Board of Education to recognize schools, school divisions, or school boards for excellence in either high achievement, continuous improvement, or innovative practices. Lisa Coons, Ed.D, Virginia Superintendent of Public Instruction, congratulated Mack Benn Jr. Elementary for being selected to receive the 2022-2023 Virginia Board of Education’s Continuous Improvement Award.

To receive this recognition, a school can be Accredited or Accredited with Conditions and must meet at least one of the following criteria:

1. The school demonstrates an increase in the combined rate for math, reading and science for each of the past three years (the three years are 2017-2018, 2018-2019, and 2021-2022), with a total increase across the three years of ten points or more.

2. The school demonstrates an increase in the combined rate for two or more student groups in reading and math for each of the past three years (the three years are 2017-2018, 2018-2019, and 2021-2022), with a total increase across the three years of ten points or more.

3. The school demonstrates an increase in the Graduation and Completion Index (GCI) for each of the past three years (the three years are 2017-2018, 2018-2019, and 2021-2022), with a total increase across the three years of four percent or more; and school demonstrates a decrease in the dropout rate for each of the past three years (the three years are 2017-2018, 2018-2019, and 2021-2022), with the total reduction across three years of 15 percent or more of the first year’s dropout rate.

Mack Benn Jr. Elementary met criterion two.