Ranked No. 1 in all of Virginia and in the D.C. area by the prestigious Niche.Com education resource website, the Falls Church City Public Schools have produced impressive results for students at all grade levels, according to a “Student Performance Data Report” presented to the School Board at a work session this Tuesday.
The student achievement data were laid out in an extensive session with 40 presentation slides to the board by Kimberly Heddings, the FCCPS system’s Director of Assessment and Accountability following a discussion earlier in the meeting on student safety issues around the Secondary School campus of Meridian High and Henderson Middle School.
Highlights of the achievement report included Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) pass rates exceeding state averages by 17 to 24 percent across all subjects, 100 percent pass rates in advanced middle school math, students with disabilities ranking No. 1 in every content area in Virginia and an impressive reduction in chronic absenteeism at Mt. Daniel Elementary.
In English for the past school year, Falls Church students scored an average 92 in pass rates, tops in Virginia, compared to the state average of 74. In math, they were at 89 percent compared to the state average of 72. In science they were at 88, tops in the state compared to the state average of 71. And, in history and social sciences, they were at 90, tops in the state ahead of the state average of 66.
Virginia’s SOLs are described as state-mandated expectations for what students in grades K-12 should know and be able to do in core subjects like English, Math, Science, and Social Studies, which are measured by SOL tests. The program was created in the mid-1990s with an aim to improve student achievement and was later revised to equal or exceed the quality of national standards. Starting in the 2026-2027 school year, SOL tests will count as 10 percent of a student’s final grade, representing a major change in the program’s structure.
In particular, at the Henderson Middle School, there was a 100 percent overall pass rate for both Algebra 1 and Geometry, with 54 percent as advanced passing in Algebra 1 and 87 percent as advanced passing in geometry. Henderson has been ranked the No. 1 middle school in all of Virginia by Niche.com.
The SOL pass rates were particularly high for the FCCPS among what the Virginia Department of Education describes as “multiple races” students, where they were from 93 to 95, all tops in the state, and tops in the state in science for Black students.
For SAT score results, the overall mean score has risen from 1,227 in 2023 to 1,266 in the past year, and the PSAT from 1,078 in 2023 to 1,105 in the past year. SAT used to stand for Scholastic Aptitude Tests but since the term, aptitude, became controversial, in 1997 the College Board changed the meaning of the term SAT to stand just for itself. PSAT stands for the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). It is a standardized test that serves as a practice run for the SAT and also qualifies students for the National Merit Scholarship Program. The test assesses a student’s reading, writing, and math skills and is administered annually in October at high schools.
In terms of the FCCPS’ International Baccalaureate (IB) program, which is one of the few in the nation that extends from pre-school through grade 12, an impressive total of 265 students took one or more IB exams in the past school year for a total of 992 exams taken in the past year. Thirty-seven subjects were tested and there was a 97 percent pass rate. A total of 64 IB diplomas were earned, and another 117 Career-Related Program certificates earned.
There are 69 students of this school year’s Class of 2026, or 27 percent of the Meridian High School seniors, who are slated to achieve an IB diploma next spring, and 84 on track to earn it in the Class of 2027. In addition, 24 students in the current year are slated to achieve the Career-Related Program certificate, and six the following year.
On the topic of student safety around the Secondary School campus, Falls Church City Manager Wyatt Shields was on hand to explain efforts underway to install signal lights soon on Route 7 (W. Broad) at the intersection with Haycock Road and with the new intersection at Chestnut Street across from the West Falls Station Road that is now functioning inside the West Falls project adjacent the schools.
No exact dates for their becoming operational was provided, as the matter, in part, is in the hands of the Virginia Department of Transportation.
