Chekesha White, a teacher at Jones Magnet Middle School, has been named the division's Teacher of the Year! Prior to receiving this outstanding honor, she was first named Middle School Teacher of the Year.  Jackie Denton of Merrimack won the Elementary Teacher of the Year title, with Joe Sweat of Bethel being named High School Teacher of the Year.

The National Association of Music Merchants Foundation has named Hampton City Schools a "Best Community" for music education, based on the results of its 13th annual Best Communities for Music Education (BCME) survey.  The survey is a nationwide search for communities that provide access to music education as an essential part of a complete education and exemplify commitment and support for music education. The BCME survey is designed and implemented in collaboration with The Institute for Educational Research and Public Services of Lawrence, Kansas, an affiliate of the University of Kansas.  Only 176 communities nationwide (166 School Districts and 10 Schools) achieved this prestigious designation.

The School Board unanimously passed the Superintendent's Recommended Budget on Wednesday, March 28.  That budget now goes to the City Council for deliberation and discussion.  As you may be aware, the Superintendent’s budget requests level funding from our city, which would require an adjustment to our tax rate. Therefore the City Council has some very difficult decisions to make.  So as a citizen, if you are so inclined, please let our city leaders know your willingness to support specific adjustments to the rate, as requested in the Superintendent's budget. 

Kecoughtan High School senior Victoria Worrals has been named a National Merit Finalist while KHS senior, Terry (T.J) Stokes, has been named a National Achievement Finalist!

All four of Hampton’s high schools reached full accreditation in all 5 areas, including the newly added graduation index!! The benchmark set for this indicator is 85%.  Bethel High School reached 93%, Kecoughtan High School and  Hampton High School both  reached 91%, and Phoebus High School reached 87%. This represents a significant increase for each high school and echoes the commitment HCS has to....Every Child, Every Day!

The Hampton school division has made significant gains in increasing the graduation rates of its students!  This year the division showed a graduation rate of 84.8% compared to a rate of 79% a year ago!  Also of importance is the fact that the division's dropout rate fell from 8% in 2010 to 4.8% in 2011!! Executive Director for Secondary Education, Dr. Donna Woods, stated that these impressive gains in our graduation rate and the dramatic decrease in our dropout rate were both due to the "extensive work by our team to keep all students on track toward graduation, as well as our major push in recovering those students who had previously dropped out." 

Twelve new teachers have been added to the growing list of National Board Certified Teachers in the Hampton School Division, with another being re-certified!  This brings us to a total of 105 National Board Certified teachers currently teaching in the system, with HCS having more than any other district in the region! National Board Certification is authorized through NBPTS (National Board for Professional Teaching Standards), which requires applicants to complete an extensive portfolio and take a very detailed assessment in the area of the certification they are seeking. The portfolio process itself takes 150-300 hours to complete, and teachers must demonstrate how they stimulate student learning.

New NBC Teachers in HCS

Michael Evans  - Phoebus High School   

Danielle Peters – Barron Elementary School

Tamara Cunningham - Armstrong School for the Arts

Kathryn Kilgore - Langley Elementary School

Catherine Schaefer - Jones Magnet Middle School 

Jeffrey Weigel - Eaton Middle School

Heather Courtney Worrell - Phenix PreK-8 

Joyce Buchanan - Tarrant Elementary School

Lori Clarke – Bethel High School

Katherine Johnson - Spratley Gifted Center

Sandra Taylor - Asbury Elementary School

Anthony Townes - Kecoughtan High School

NOTE: Kelly Dee (Teacher Specialist for Fine Arts) has been re-certified for another 10 years.

Lindsay Middle School and Hampton High School have received official Middle Years Programme (MYP) certification from the International Baccalaureate (IB) in Geneva, Switzerland, and are now designated “IB World Schools!” Only 900 schools worldwideoffer IB MYP. The Middle Years Programme is a program of international education, designed for students ages 11 to 16. Now Hampton has a complete K-12 International Baccalaureate pipeline, with Burbank Elementary offering the IB Primary Years Programme, Lindsay and Hampton offering the MYP, and Hampton High offering the IB diploma program.