From State Oversight to Full Accreditation: How Danville Public Schools Built a Culture of Academic Growth

District Overview

Location: Danville, Virginia

District Size: 10 schools serving approximately 5,500 students

District Profile: Danville Public Schools serves the independent city of Danville in southern Virginia. The division has undergone a significant academic transformation in recent years, moving from a period of low academic performance and state-level oversight to full accreditation across the division. Today, Danville continues to build on that progress with a strong focus on student mastery, consistent assessment practices, and data-informed instruction.

A Division-Wide Transformation

In 2020, Danville Public Schools was facing significant challenges. The Virginia school division was considered low-performing. Student performance on Virginia’s Standards of Learning (SOL) assessments needed improvement. Teacher turnover was high. And the division entered into a formal improvement agreement with the Virginia Department of Education.

Six years later, the story looks very different.

Danville Public Schools has achieved full accreditation across the division, 8 of 10 schools with state performance ratings are On Track or Distinguished, and in June 2026, the Virginia Board of Education unanimously voted to release Danville from state-level oversight.

The Data Behind Danville’s Growth

From 2021–22 to 2024–25, Danville’s divisionwide SOL pass rates increased across reading, mathematics, and science:

The work behind those numbers is bigger than any one program or initiative. Danville leaders have taken a deliberate, division-wide approach to curriculum, assessment, instructional quality, progress monitoring, intervention, and data review. Progress Learning has become one of the tools supporting that work.

From Two Accredited Schools to Division-Wide Progress

As Executive Director of Curriculum and Instruction, Kimberly Agnor works alongside a team of approximately 12 curriculum coordinators and specialists to oversee curriculum decisions across Danville Public Schools.

Agnor remembers when the division’s academic outlook was considerably different. Danville was considered a low-performing division, SOL performance was a concern, teacher turnover presented another challenge, and at one point, only two schools were accredited.

Reflecting on the transformation, Agnor said, “We’ve come a long way. We went from two accredited schools to all of our schools being accredited. It’s amazing to look back on.”

Today, that progress is reflected not only in accreditation but also in Virginia’s School Performance and Support Framework. Seven Danville schools earned an On Track designation, while Galileo Magnet High School earned the state’s highest designation, Distinguished.

The current framework scores provide another way to see the division’s progress:

But for Danville, accreditation isn’t the finish line. The division has set its sights on an ambitious academic goal: 85% student mastery across subjects. For Agnor, that goal goes beyond test scores. It’s about helping students grow academically while building the confidence they need to succeed.

Creating Consistency Around Virginia’s Standards of Learning

Danville has developed its own curriculum based on Virginia’s Standards of Learning, continually updating it as the SOL evolves. But having a strong curriculum is only part of the equation. Educators also need a consistent way to understand whether students have mastered what they’ve been taught, and where additional support is needed. 

Danville takes a strategic approach to that work. Division leaders create required benchmarks and mock SOL assessments, while teachers use shorter assessments and quick checks throughout instruction. 

Progress Learning provides a central platform for much of this work.

Across Danville, educators use Progress Learning for benchmarks, mock SOL assessments, quick checks, supplemental instruction, remediation, and acceleration. Teachers can also create short, targeted assessments—sometimes only five to 10 questions—to check student understanding of specific Virginia SOL.

For Agnor, one of the biggest benefits is consistency: “It gives us a platform to house assessments, provides continuity, [and] gives us a pipeline of data.”

Turning Assessment Data Into Action

Giving students an assessment is only useful if educators can act on the results. That’s a key part of Danville’s approach.

The curriculum team monitors results weekly, looking at student performance as well as whether assessments reflect the appropriate grade-level expectations and Depth of Knowledge.

The result is an ongoing instructional cycle: Assess → Identify Gaps → Remediate → Monitor → Adjust

Progress Learning is also used beyond the regular school day. Danville uses the platform extensively in after-school programs and Saturday school, providing additional opportunities for remediation and acceleration.

During regular instruction, teachers can use quick checks and custom assessments to determine whether students are ready to move forward or need additional support.

Instead of waiting for end-of-year SOL results to reveal learning gaps, educators have opportunities to identify and address those gaps throughout the year.

When Benchmark Data Reflects SOL Performance

For Danville leaders, assessment data needs to provide an accurate picture of how students are progressing toward Virginia’s expectations.

Agnor said Progress Learning’s questions closely reflect what students encounter on the SOL and described the correlation between Progress Learning benchmark data and end-of-year SOL results as “spot on.” That gives educators another indicator of student readiness before state testing begins.

Agnor also pointed to Progress Learning’s ability to keep pace with updates to Virginia’s SOL as an important benefit.

And compared with the division’s previous assessment platform, the data is easier for educators to access and use.

They don’t have to dig through the results to understand where students need support.

School-Level Growth Tells an Even Bigger Story

Division averages only tell part of Danville’s story. Looking at individual schools shows just how significant some of the gains have been.

Woodberry Hills Elementary

Woodberry Hills provides one of the clearest examples. Its overall mathematics SOL pass rate increased: 34% in 2022–23 → 42% in 2023–24 → 56% in 2024–25. That’s a 22-percentage-point increase in two years. Fourth-grade mathematics showed even greater improvement: 15% → 44% → 59%. That’s a 44-point increase between 2022–23 and 2024–25. Reading increased from 38% to 52%, while Virginia Studies increased from 10% to 40% over that period.

Galileo Magnet High School

Galileo demonstrates another side of the growth story: sustaining and building on strong achievement. Its SOL reading pass rate increased: 89% in 2022–23 → 94% in 2023–24 → 97% in 2024–25. Among Black students, the increase was even greater: 71% → 91% → 94%. That’s a 23-percentage-point increase in two years. Galileo now holds a 98.4 framework score and is rated Distinguished, Virginia’s highest performance category.

Forest Hills Elementary

Forest Hills shows what sustained strong achievement can look like. Overall reading remained consistently high at 77%, 76%, and 78% from 2022–23 through 2024–25. Mathematics was similarly strong at 74%, 72%, and 76%. Fifth-grade mathematics also increased from 63% in 2023–24 to 80% in 2024–25, a 17-point increase in one year. Today, Forest Hills is Fully Accredited, On Track, and holds a framework score of 86.2.

Progress Beyond SOL Scores

Danville’s transformation isn’t limited to state assessments. The division has also expanded opportunities for students through International Baccalaureate and Advanced Placement coursework, career and technical education, and a partnership with Danville Community College.

Its early college program has grown from an initial cohort of 17 students to more than 40 students in a cohort. Nearly 100 students from Danville Public Schools are expected to have earned associate degrees alongside their high school diplomas.

Career-focused opportunities have expanded as well, including STEM, aviation, hospitality, and other CTE pathways. Together, these efforts reflect the larger objective behind Danville’s academic strategy: not simply improving test scores, but expanding opportunities for students.

From State Oversight to a New Chapter

In June 2026, Danville reached one of the clearest milestones in its turnaround. The Virginia Board of Education unanimously approved Danville Public Schools’ release from its formal improvement agreement and state-level oversight. The division had operated under the agreement since 2020.

Virginia determined that Danville had successfully met the criteria to conclude state oversight following sustained work to improve academic performance, student support, and school quality. The milestone represents years of work across the division.

Progress Learning is one part of that larger strategy—not the sole cause of Danville’s turnaround. Its role, however, aligns closely with practices Danville leaders have made central to their improvement efforts: consistent assessments, frequent progress monitoring, visibility into learning gaps, targeted remediation, and access to actionable data.

Still Moving Toward 85% Mastery

Full accreditation and release from state oversight are significant milestones for Danville Public Schools. They’re not the endpoint.

Reading has grown. Mathematics and science have improved considerably. History and social sciences are among the division’s next areas of focus as Virginia’s accountability expectations evolve.

And Danville remains focused on its larger goal: 85% student mastery across subjects.

That means continuing to ask the questions that have become central to its approach: What have students mastered? Where are the gaps? What support do they need next? And is it working?

Progress Learning helps Danville turn those questions into action through SOL-aligned assessments, quick checks, progress monitoring, targeted remediation, and supplemental instruction. And with 2025–26 achievement results still to come, Danville Public Schools has another opportunity to build on that progress.