(Danville) — Danville’s two preschools are making the grade under the state’s new rating system.
Rhonda Wright-Simmers, Principal at Grove Park and Northside Preschool gave the Danville School Board an update on the Virginia Preschool Accountability Ratings. The Virginia Preschool Initiative sends state funds to schools to provide quality preschool for at-risk four-year-olds who are not served by the federal Head Start program.
Wright-Simmers says they are ranked based on their curriculum, and their face-to-face interactions with preschoolers. Grove Park scored 569 for interactions and 100 for curriculum, giving them 669 total points. Northside got 590 interaction points and 100 for curriculum, giving them a 690 overall.
“Schools that score between 400 and 699 are regarded as meeting expectations,” Wright-Simmers told the School Board. “Do you see how close we are? We’re right there on the brink of ranking as exceeding expectations.
Wright-Simmers says those numbers suggest Danville’s two preschoolers are moving into elite company. “I have a fantastic team and we are going to work hard and do our very best,” Wright-Simmers added. “But I think for our very first time out, Danville Public Schools’ preschools scored great.”