RICHMOND – Virginia Beach City Public Schools, and Green Run High School in particular, will receive a $50,000 grant from the Virginia Department of Education to combine blended learning and internships aligned with students’ needs and interests.
Through the program, students at Green Run will have a choice of college and career pathways, including industry credentialing, internships with local businesses, and advanced academic programs at local colleges.
VBCPS was one of five school divisions in Virginia to receive a $50,000 grant; Bedford County, Madison County, Williamsburg-James City County and Hampton were the others.
In addition, four programs that received planning grants in 2015 have been awarded $50,000 grants to support implementation this fall.
The grants were the brainchild of the Standards of Learning Innovation Committee.
“In order to build the workforce of the future, we must ensure that we are preparing all of our students to succeed in the new Virginia economy,” said Governor Terry McAuliffe. “With this second round of high school innovation grants, we are not only taking another positive step in that direction, we are also supporting the bold ideas of our education leaders and changing high school as we know it.”
This round of competitive grants was authorized by the 2016 General Assembly in order to encourage school divisions to develop innovative programs that emphasize personalized learning, alignment with local workforce needs, and college and career readiness.
“These new funds will help build upon the momentum created by the first round of grants while informing our work to redesign high school,” said Secretary of Education Anne Holton. “When we empower our divisions to pursue their own individualized approaches and allow the educators on the ground to be creative, we pave the way for student success.”
“The grants will allow these school divisions to plan and implement new approaches to engage and motivate students and increase their readiness for postsecondary education and training,” Superintendent of Public Instruction Steven R. Staples said. “At each of the participating high schools, students will benefit from programs that connect classroom learning and career goals, and opportunities to acquaint themselves with the expectations of the workplace.”