For the 13th consecutive year, Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VBCPS) reached record levels with respect to the On-Time Graduation (OTG) rate, which stands at 94.9% for the 2021 cohort year, and the lowest recorded dropout rate of 2.7%. VBCPS also outperformed Virginia's rates of 93% for OTG and 4.3% for dropouts.

"Congratulations to our educators and support staff for putting the needs of our students first, ensuring that each one walks off the graduation stage ready for college, the military or a career," said VBCPS Superintendent Dr. Aaron Spence. "And thank you to our families for their patience and resilience as we navigated an entire year in the throes of COVID-19."

During Spence's tenure, which began in June 2014, the division's graduation rate has increased by 6.4 percentage points and the dropout rate has decreased by 2.1 percentage points.

"For me, the pivotal moment of the 2020-21 school year was that we were all able to be together to celebrate in-person graduations," Spence added. "These record numbers are just another affirmation of a community's dedication to its youngest citizens."

On-time graduation and dropout rates for the Class of 2021 were released Sept. 30 by the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE), which has been tracking this information since 2008.

The on-time graduation rate is based on the percentage of students in a graduation cohort who earned a Board of Education-approved diploma within four years of entering high school. In addition to these new overall records, a closer look at VBCPS data reveals impressive gains in key areas:

• The division's OTG has increased steadily from 84.2% in 2008 to 94.9% in 2021 and the dropout rate has decreased from 7% in 2008 to 2.7% in 2021.
• Since 2018, the graduation rate for African American students increased by 1.7 percentage points and the dropout rate decreased by 1.6 percentage points.
• Students with disabilities as a group increased their graduation rate from 91.7% to 93.5%.

These records add to the division's string of recent successes in achievement, including VBCPS being recognized by VDOE as one of only 15 "School Divisions of Innovation" for designing and implementing alternatives to traditional instructional practices that improve student learning and promote college and career readiness, and good citizenship.

Learn more about graduation, dropout rates and Divisions of Innovation by visiting the VDOE's website.

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Department of Communications and Community Engagement, [email protected]

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