As you may have heard already, Brentsville High School was not recognized with a School of Excellence rating this year, despite increasing our overall SOL pass rate from 93% to 94.6%. If you’re wondering why, there are a couple reasons. Foremost among these were the points we failed to earn for reaching 25% of our student population at the Advanced SOL level in math and science. Instead, we reached 22.4% Advanced in math, missing the 25% mark by 23 students (of 906 tested), and 22.33% in science, missing 25% Advanced by 29 students (of 1088 tested). We missed a few additional points for NCLB categories, particularly for students with special needs. However, our team of special education teachers – workhorses on any given day – are addressing those assessment results with students and parents this year.

Overall, we set and met several key goals last year:

• We increased the number of students who passed their SOLs from 93 % to 94.6%, despite increased enrollment.
• We increased or maintained our enrollment in the Cambridge and AP programs despite only accepting 25 transfer students in the past two years (students we generally anticipate will score at the Advanced level on the SOL).
• We maintained a greater-than 96% pass rate in social studies and greater-than 97% in English.
• We targeted improvements in Earth Science and Math and demonstrated growth in those areas, including,
• An increase in our Earth Science pass rate from 84 % to 88.5%, despite increased enrollment, a significant gain thanks to focused instruction in literacy and content.
• An increase in Algebra 2 achievement from 95% to 95.2% despite increased enrollment as well.
• We remain the county’s leader in SAT scores, a five-year honor we’ve retained in Math, Reading, and Writing.
• Finally, in the first year of our new law in Virginia, we increased our graduation rate from 86.6% to 92.3%, a testament to your willingness to do whatever it takes to see our students succeed.

By my reckoning, Brentsville remains an“excellent” place to attend high school.

This month, I speak for the faculty and staff when I offer congratulations to our freshman football squad. Often overlooked, our freshman team has played tough, disciplined football this season and emerged as a powerhouse among district teams. With only one loss all season, I wish them luck as they head into their final game next week.

Congratulations as well to our competition cheerleading and men’s and women’s cross country squads. With matching district championships, both cross country teams are poised for a strong showing in the region and state competitions later this month. Similarly, our cheerleaders head into this year’s district competition undefeated in 09 – 10. Good luck all.

I encourage all students to review their first quarter progress and, if necessary, set up a time to meet with their teachers to establish a plan for academic success in the next nine weeks. With Thanksgiving and Winter Break on the near horizon, Quarter 2 tends to roll by in a flash.