Henrico County Public Schools

Statistics

Schools Total schools and program centers - 72; Elementary - 45; Middle - 12; High - 9; Technical Centers - 2 Program Centers - 3.

Students Total Students - 51,339; Elementary - 23,302; Middle - 11,423; High - 15,324; Other - 1,288; (updated October 2014)

Pupil/Teacher Ratios Elementary - 21.2; Middle - 23.3; High - 21.9 (updated February 2014)

Graduates 2011 Graduates - 3,592 Scholarships - $15.8 Million accepted On-Time Graduation Rate - 86.2% Continuing Education - 83%; Dropout Rate - 2.45%

Ethnic Distribution Asian - 8.9%; African American - 36.1%; Hispanic - 7.6%; White - 43.3%; Other - 4.2% (updated February 2014)

Nutrition Students eligible for free and reduced lunch program: 41% (updated October 2014)

Transportation Buses - 625; Full-time employees - 614; Miles traveled daily with at least one student on board - 15,000; Students riding a bus each morning and afternoon -more than 24,000 Exceptional education students served with special transportation arrangements: 1,258 (updated September 2014)

Finance Operating budget - $508.1 million; Per pupil expenditure - $9,369 (updated February 2014)

Teachers - 3,687

Employees - 6,643

School Board and Superintendent

The Henrico County School Board for 2016 consists of: John W. Montgomery Jr., chair (Varina District); Lisa A. Marshall, vice chair (Tuckahoe District); Beverly L. Cocke (Brookland District); Roscoe Cooper III (Fairfield District); and Michelle F. "Micky” Ogburn (Three Chopt District).

Superintendent Dr. Patrick C. Kinlaw took office Jan. 9, 2014.

New Schools

Kaechele Elementary School opened in 2013. Glen Allen High School and Holman Middle School opened in 2010.

Pupil Transportation

As one room school houses gradually evolved into graded elementary schools with multiple classrooms, an educational development in Henrico as in many other places, children often lived too far away from the closest of these schools to walk as they had previously to the smaller schools.

Henrico began transportation of some children via farm wagons, and the program quickly grew. In 1933, Henrico County Public Schools began self-operating school buses. By 1960, the county was operating 118 buses, expanding to 158 by 1964. In the early 1970s, fleet maintenance for all county and school board vehicles, which had been located at Dabb's House on Nine Mile Road and at a west end depot formerly located on the site now occupied by Regency Mall on Parham Road at Quioccasin Road was consolidated at a new large and modern facility on Woodman Road in the northern section of the county.

The Henrico school division is one of the larger school bus programs in Virginia as well as in the United States. As of the 2009–2010 school year, Henrico County Public Schools was utilizing a fleet of over five hundred school buses. Henrico County Public School buses make two to four runs into and out of schools every school day, transporting over 46,000 students to school and bringing them home daily. Most buses are Type C "conventional style" school, and Type D, or Transit buses Bus models include the International FE, International RE, Thomas Saf-T-Liner HDX.

Laptop Program

Henrico County Public Schools was one of the first school districts in the United States to distribute laptop computers to students, during the 2001 school year. Initially, the four-year, $18.6 million project was for high school students alone. However, the middle school program was also phased in 2002. Up until the 2005–2006 school year, Apple computers were used exclusively. In 2005, Dell was awarded a contract with HCPS for high school students. Middle schoolers received Dells at the beginning of the 2010–2011 school year.

Response to the laptop program has been mainly positive. During a random survey where 796 homes were polled, 88% of parents were in favor of continuing the program.

Virginia Randolph

Two local educators associated with Henrico County Public School became notable for contributions to the development of educational programs for African-American students in the late 19th and early to mid-20th century.

Virginia Randolph (1874–1958) became notable for her many years and contributions to the development of educational programs for African-American students during the days of segregated schools in Virginia. Educated at Richmond's Armstrong High School, in 1892, Ms. Randolph opened the Mountain Road School in the north central part of the county. As a teacher there, Randolph taught her students woodworking, sewing, cooking, and gardening, as well as academics. In 1908, Henrico County Superintendent of Schools Jackson T. Davis named her to become the United States' first "Jeanes Supervising Industrial Teacher".

As the overseer of twenty three elementary schools in Henrico County, Virginia Randolph developed the first in-service training program for African American teachers and worked on improving the curriculum of the schools. With the freedom to design her own agenda, she shaped industrial work and community self-help programs to meet specific needs of schools. During her 57-year career, although she remained at work in Henrico County, she became recognized worldwide as a pioneering educator, humanitarian and leader, especially in the field of vocational education. She retired in 1949.

In Glen Allen, the Virginia Randolph Home Economics Cottage was made into a museum in memory of Randolph in 1970. The Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission designated the museum a State Historic Landmark. In 1976 the museum was named a National Historic Landmark by the United States Department of Interior, National Park Service. Randolph reportedly had an office in the building. Her grave site is on the grounds. Randolph is interred on the museum grounds. In modern times, Virginia Randolph Community High School in Glen Allen, Virginia and a special education center are each named in her honor. The Virginia Randolph Foundation, formed in 1954, annually awards scholarships to Henrico County high school students who will be attending a 4-year college or university.

Jackson T. Davis

Jackson T. Davis (1882–1947), a Richmonder, was graduate of the College of William and Mary and Columbia University. He headed school divisions in Williamsburg and Marion before coming to Henrico as Division Superintendent in 1905. After his tenure at HCPS, Dr. Davis became state agent for African-American rural schools for the Virginia State Department of Education from 1910 to 1915. He went on to also become an internationally known leader in his field. Henrico County's Jackson Davis Elementary School, dedicated in 1964, was named for him. His collection of photographs of Virginia's negro school facilities of the era is notable among many items of his career which were donated to the University of Virginia and are among the special collections there.

Awards and accolades

Twin Hickory was given a National Blue Ribbon Award of Excellence in 2013, 2014, and 2015

Districts

Henrico County is divided into five school districts. The list of districts and their schools follows.

Brookland District

Fairfield District

Three Chopt District

Tuckahoe District

Varina District