79 local schools got a rating below what they scored. Fifteen of them improved.

Yesterday we told you Virginia's school ratings and school scores don't always agree. Today, the list.

We pulled the state's full school level data file for all 1,812 Virginia schools, compared every school's Overall Framework Score against the Performance Category the state actually published for it, then did the same with last year's file to see which direction each school was moving.

In Fairfax, Loudoun and Arlington, 79 schools were published one full category below what their score earned. Fairfax 53, Arlington 14, Loudoun 12. Statewide the figure is 592 schools, and 587 of them are federally identified for Targeted Support and Improvement.

Fifteen of the 79 improved their score from last year and still got a worse rating than they had in 2025.

Park View High in Loudoun went from 74.9 to 77.5 and is now published as Needs Intensive Support, the lowest category Virginia issues. Powell Elementary in Fairfax gained more than four points, scored 96.3, and lost its Distinguished rating. Both Fort Belvoir elementary schools, which serve military families, are on that list. So is Wakefield High in Arlington, up more than two points.

Why this happens. VDOE's own briefing materials state the rule plainly: a school identified for Targeted Support and Improvement is moved down one performance category regardless of its overall score.

TSI identification is triggered by one student subgroup falling below a threshold. Statewide, roughly 95 percent of newly identified TSI schools were flagged over achievement gaps for students with disabilities, and 84 percent were flagged for that group alone.

So a school can serve most of its students well, score into Distinguished range, and be published a tier lower because one subgroup did not clear the bar. That is the system working exactly as written. The rating itself just doesn't carry that explanation.

The threshold also moves. It is pegged to the performance of the highest performing school in the lowest performing tier, so when the bottom of the state improves, the bar rises for everyone. That is the main reason federal identifications statewide went from 430 schools to 676 in a year when scores broadly went up.

Fairfax County, 53 schools.

Scored into Distinguished, published as Meets Expectations: Powell Elementary 96.3 (improved from 91.9), Laurel Hill Elementary 94.5, Armstrong Elementary 93.0, Centreville High 92.2, Hayfield Secondary 92.1, Bull Run Elementary 91.5, Clearview Elementary 90.8, Lorton Station Elementary 90.7, McNair Elementary 90.6, McNair Upper Elementary 90.6, Cub Run Elementary 90.2.

Scored into Meets Expectations, published as Approaching Expectations: Rose Hill Elementary 89.2 (improved from 84.8), Fort Belvoir Upper Elementary 88.4 (improved from 84.3), Fort Belvoir Elementary 88.1 (improved from 84.2), Halley Elementary 88.0, Edison High 87.8, Lake Anne Elementary 87.5, Cameron Elementary 87.5, Virginia Run Elementary 87.4 (improved from 83.9), Greenbriar East Elementary 87.4 (improved from 84.6), Providence Elementary 87.0 (improved from 82.7), Shrevewood Elementary 86.9, West Potomac High 86.5, Belle View Elementary 86.0, Washington Mill Elementary 85.7, Freedom Hill Elementary 85.2 (improved from 83.6), Woodley Hills Elementary 84.6 (improved from 80.2), Hollin Meadows Elementary 84.2, Lewis High 84.1, Westlawn Elementary 83.8, Forestdale Elementary 83.7, Bailey's Upper Elementary School for the Arts and Sciences 83.6, Herndon High 83.6, Centre Ridge Elementary 83.4, Bailey's Elementary School for the Arts and Sciences 83.2, Holmes Middle 82.8 (improved from 82.5), Woodburn Elementary 82.6, Coates Elementary 82.5, Parklawn Elementary 81.8, Glasgow Middle 81.7, Sleepy Hollow Elementary 81.2, Weyanoke Elementary 81.1.

Scored into Approaching Expectations, published as Needs Intensive Support: Mount Vernon Woods Elementary 79.4 (improved from 79.3), Groveton Elementary 79.4, Mount Eagle Elementary 78.9, Glen Forest Elementary 78.9, Hybla Valley Elementary 78.6, Braddock Elementary 78.4, Poe Middle 78.0, Dogwood Elementary 77.3, Hutchison Elementary 77.2, Graham Road Elementary 77.0, Lynbrook Elementary 76.6.

Loudoun County, 12 schools.

Scored into Distinguished, published as Meets Expectations: Lightridge High 97.5 (improved from 97.2), Newton-Lee Elementary 94.9, Broad Run High 94.5, Arcola Elementary 91.9, Moorefield Station Elementary 91.7.

Scored into Meets Expectations, published as Approaching Expectations: Banneker Elementary 85.4, Meadowland Elementary 84.6, Sugarland Elementary 84.2, Sterling Elementary 83.4, Dominion High 82.7, Frederick Douglass Elementary 81.3.

Scored into Approaching Expectations, published as Needs Intensive Support: Park View High 77.5 (improved from 74.9).

Lightridge High posted the highest score of any downgraded school in the region, at 97.5.

Arlington County, 14 schools.

Scored into Distinguished, published as Meets Expectations: Ashlawn Elementary 95.3, Innovation Elementary 92.9, Washington-Liberty High 92.3, Oakridge Elementary 91.2.

Scored into Meets Expectations, published as Approaching Expectations: Long Branch Elementary 89.3, Alice West Fleet Elementary 89.0, Wakefield High 88.9 (improved from 86.8), Jefferson Middle 87.3 (improved from 82.9), Barrett Elementary 85.9, Barcroft Elementary 85.1, Randolph Elementary 85.0, Hoffman-Boston Elementary 83.7, Carlin Springs Elementary 81.0.

Scored into Approaching Expectations, published as Needs Intensive Support: Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary 79.0.

The wider local picture. Across the 326 local schools we could match to last year's file, 103 moved up a performance category, 198 held steady, and 25 moved down. Of those 25, fifteen had rising scores. The average local school gained about four points.

Forty-three local schools were newly identified for federal support this year after carrying no identification in 2025. Thirty-three of them scored better than they did last year.

No school in Fairfax, Loudoun or Arlington is in the Additional Targeted Support or Comprehensive Support tiers, which means none of the 26 million dollars in competitive improvement grants the state announced this week is coming to our three counties. That money is aimed at roughly 67 schools statewide.

How we did this. Both figures come from VDOE's published school level data files, this year's and last year's. For each school we banded its Overall Framework Score using the state's own cut scores, 90 and above Distinguished, 80 and above Meets Expectations, 65 and above Approaching Expectations, below that Needs Intensive Support, then compared that band to the Performance Category the state published.

The 2024-2025 file does not include school identification numbers, so year over year matching was done on division and school name. We matched 1,793 of 1,812 schools. The remainder are name changes we could not resolve with confidence, and they are excluded rather than guessed at. Last year's file reconciles exactly to the counts in VDOE's own briefing deck.

The state changed how it measures academic growth this year, from a value added model to growth tables, and VDOE's materials caution that scores are not directly comparable year to year and that growth can be inflated at schools without enough English learners. Score changes here should be read as directional, not precise.

Look up your school: schoolquality.virginia.gov

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• Arlington County apologized after its emergency-alert account reposted an anti-immigrant tweet. The Arlington Alert page, which has nearly 15,000 followers and normally pushes weather and traffic notices, shared a post disparaging immigrants in the UK. The county took it down and says it is tightening social-media access controls. ARLnow
• Fairfax County handed the Centreville Regional Library site to its housing authority. The 9-1 vote clears the way to study combining a redeveloped library with 180 affordable housing units on the 4-acre lot. More than a half-dozen residents weighed in at the Sept. 29 hearing. FFXnow

• A Woodbridge man is charged with burglarizing at least three Fairfax County medical offices. Police say the suspect wore professional attire, gloves, and a medical-style mask while hitting offices in Merrifield, McLean, and Fair Oaks since May. Stolen items included camera equipment, cash, and, in one case, lotion. FFXnow

• A developer's plan for 13 single-family homes on the Wolf Trap Nursery site advanced. Sekas Homes won a Planning Commission recommendation to rezone the 6.5-acre property on Leesburg Pike. County staff had raised concerns about how many trees would survive the project. FFXnow
• Up to 300 homes could replace a former Inova office building in Merrifield. An affiliate of Buchanan Partners wants to demolish the six-story structure on Gatehouse Road and build a 265-unit apartment building plus 35 townhouses. A prior live/work conversion plan fell through. FFXnow
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• Fairfax high schoolers built an app to route kids to the safest walk, not the fastest. SafeWalkr started at a 24-hour HackTJ coding contest after a student got routed onto sidewalk-free Braddock Road. It is now available to students near several Fairfax County schools. WTOP
• 'No Kings' groups plan get-out-the-vote rallies in Arlington next week. We of Action Virginia, Third Act DMV, and Signs of Democracy are organizing community walks to early-voting sites on Oct. 17, plus a rally over I-66. Early voting runs through Oct. 31. ARLnow

• Testimony opened in Naresh Bhatt's murder trial; prosecutors cited blood on a saw matching his missing wife's DNA. WTOP
• The Folger Shakespeare Library opens "To Hear Her Speak: Black Women and Shakespeare" on Oct. 16, featuring nearly 100 objects including a Toni Morrison legal pad. WTOP
• Fairfax supervisors honored Alpha Kappa Alpha's Lambda Kappa Omega chapter for 50 years of community service. FFXnow
• Loudoun County holds a public meeting on the Western Loudoun Recreation Complex on Oct. 19 at Loudoun Valley High School. Loudoun County
• Peruvian Charcoal Chicken & Grill opened in Herndon's Worldgate Centre, in the old Qdoba space. The Burn
• Kingsbury Chocolates marks 25 years of handmade confections, now based in Arlington. ARLnow

Fairfax keeps doing the same quiet math on where people will live: a nursery, an old Inova office, a library all getting penciled in for homes. The region is less building than reshuffling itself, one rezoning at a time.

That's the briefing. Look out for each other out there. See you tomorrow.

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