| Newport News Public Schools | |
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Communitities Committed to Learning
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| Location | |
| Newport News, Virginia, United States | |
| Information | |
| School type | Public, School division |
| School board | Debbie "Dee" Johnston, Chairman Carlton Ashby, Vice-Chairman Pricillia E. Burnett Dr. William J. Collins, III Betty Dixon Everette "Teddy" Hicks, Sr. Jeff Stodghill Lakisha Busby, Student Rep. |
| Superintendent | Dr. Ashby Kilgore |
| Staff | 5,113[1] |
| Teaching staff | 2,685[1] |
| Enrollment | 30,568[2] (October 2010) |
| Athletics conference | Peninsula District Eastern Region |
| Website | www.nnschools.org |
Newport News Public Schools (NNPS) is the branch of the government of Newport News, Virginia that operates the city's system of public schools. As of October 2010[update], NNPS had an enrollment of 30,568.[2] The district employs about 5,100 people, including 2,685 teachers and teacher assistants.[1]
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Like all public K–12 school systems in Virginia, NNPS is legally classified as a school division. While Virginia school divisions operate in largely the same manner as school districts in the rest of the United States, they have one key difference from their counterparts in other states—they have no taxing authority. NNPS, like all other school divisions in the state, must rely on its associated local government for the bulk of its funding.
NNPS is run by an eight-member School Board of elected officials. Seven of the eight are elected in a ward voting system, while the eighth is selected at-large from the entire city. The policies of the School Board are implemented by a superintendent.
The schools of NNPS are divided into the three standard levels of American primary and secondary education. As of 2010[update], the division operates five early childhood/preschool centers, 25 elementary schools serving grades K–5, eight middle schools serving grades 6–8, one combined middle and high school serving grades 6–12, and five high schools serving grades 9–12.[3]
In 1927, Woodrow Wilson High School was acquired in the annexation of the incorporated town of Kecoughtan, formerly in Elizabeth City County.
About the same time, a new Booker T. Washington High School was built on the site of the old school on Chestnut Avenue.
In 1936, a new Collis P. Huntington High School was built, and the old school building became an elementary school. [1]
The building which housed the former George Washington Carver High School is now Flora D. Crittenden Middle School.
John W. Daniel School operated until 1960, and then served as the first home of Christopher Newport College (now a university). Newport News High School was closed in 1971; from 1971 to 1980, it served as Newport News Intermediate School, and is now used for U.S. Navy housing.
The building on Warwick Boulevard that formerly housed Homer L. Ferguson High School, which closed in 1996, was remodeled as part of the Ferguson Center for the Performing Arts at Christopher Newport University.
In 2009, the Newport News school board voted to move the Denbigh Early Childhood Center pre-school program to the site of the current Reservoir Middle School. The middle school closed in June 2009, and the new full-day pre-school program re-opened in its new home in September 2009.
In September 2009, 27 of the division's schools satisfied the federal government's regulations for Adequate Yearly Progress.[4] By August 2010, only 14 of the 38 schools met that standard.[5]
NNPS offers several programs that differ from a traditional educational curriculum.
The Aviation Academy, located at the Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport, teaches high school students with an emphasis on engineering, particularly in the field of aviation. The academy also offers students a Pilot Ground School course.
The Enterprise Academy, an alternative school for students who have been suspended or expelled from their schools or have spent time in correctional facilities, places an emphasis on business.
The International Baccalaureate Diploma Program teaches students with an emphasis on international learning. At Dutrow Elementary School, all students are enrolled in the IB Primary Years program; all students are expected to read, write, and speak Spanish fluently by the end of the fifth grade. The Passage Middle School offers a Middle Years program. Students at Warwick High School can apply to enter a two-year IB program. They must have completed algebra, a year of a foreign language, and an advanced integrated language-arts class, all with grades of at least B; recommendations from teachers; and at least a 3.0 grade point average. The programs are offered in conjunction with the International Baccalaureate.[6]
From 2006 to 2010[update], Newsweek magazine's list of the top six percent of public high schools included five Newport News schools. Newsweek ranks high schools measured by enrollment as well as access to Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate classes.[7]
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