Rachel Greer is the executive director of D.C. Virgo. The school has about 120 students and over 30 staff members. The student population has steadily declined since UNCW took over the school from New Hanover County Schools in 2018.
“So we really appreciate the partnerships that we do have, because one of the challenges of being a small school is also having a small staff. So when the community embraces us, they are not short or small on experiences from a student perspective,” she said.
Those community partners include 100 Black Men, Rotary Club, A Call to Men, Empower Me, Dreams, the Boys and Girls Club, and the Divine Nine.
The school mainly serves students of color, over 90% of whom are characterized as economically disadvantaged. Dr. Christopher Glover is its newest principal. He just started four months ago.
“Part of the challenge, I think, working in high poverty schools, are students anywhere in any school you go to, they have to believe in themselves that they have the ability, the capability, and our students do have that. Sometimes, when you encounter different circumstances outside of school or in school that make learning more challenging because you don't have all your needs met through no fault of your own,” he said.
UNCW’s Dean of the Watson College of Education, Dr. Tracy Linderholm, believes the new staff, including Glover and Greer, can meet these challenges.
“I'm infinitely proud of what's been accomplished in the last year. As you know, I was new last year, [...] and that was quite a transition year, seeking new leadership. We have a new principal, a new assistant principal, a new curriculum, that's schoolwide, which we did not have before,” she said.
Greer said they’ve adopted EL Education for K-8 language arts. For math, they have Bridges for K-5, and 6-8 uses Open Up Math.
DC Virgo is judged on the same school report card model as New Hanover County Schools. Virgo has been designated as an ‘F’ school since 2018, which is based on 80% proficiency, how well students perform on standardized tests, and 20% growth, based on how students grew on those exams from the beginning of the year to the end. Teachers are evaluated on this growth model via the SAS proprietary algorithm, EVAAS.
“So we know that the current way that the report card is structured is challenging for our school and others in town, but we can see through our data that our curriculum is working and the instructional decisions our teachers are making are working,” Greer said.
One of the ways Virgo met growth is the jump in the students’ reading proficiency rates, which increased from 13% to 17% last year.
Along with academic goals, Glover said the school has objectives for bettering student behavior and community engagement.
“What sold me was the sense of community here, and I think that's in two ways. One, the sense of community in the school amongst faculty and staff and students. But also there's such a tie, because of the legacy of D.C. Virgo historically, to the community itself and the community partners, that all those things combined is what's important to me,” he said.
Greer added that many of the students had family members who attend Virgo themselves, making it a multi-generational school.
Further, Greer said of the staff, “I would say our teachers are really excited to be here, and came here on purpose, with purpose. I would say that poverty does not define what can be or look like student success.”
While a state report described D.C. Virgo as having “predominantly negative results” for the 2023-2024 teacher working conditions survey, Greer said they’re starting to improve on those metrics through a quarterly check-in. WHQR asked for documentation of that, and has yet to hear back.
In addition to supporting its students and staff, parents also have access to their own resource room on campus.
“We have resources for meetings, but also for cooking, washing clothes. If anybody's got needs that they need to have met, they know that they can come use this space,” Greer said, adding that, “I would say that our school is set up with multiple structures in place, ranging from partnerships with Nourish NC. If there's actual barriers to food for the family, they're able to get those resources through the school and Nourish.”
On the student behavior front, Greer said their aim is to have students work out their differences. They have two restorative rooms — one each for elementary and middle school students.
“One focus of our school is also to have restorative practices, so whenever kids need to have time to restore relationships with each other or with a grown-up, or restore the environment, or just need 10 minutes before returning to class. We've got behavior specialists and interns that come here and learn how we help the kids restore,” she said.
Greer said Virgo is a place for students to get their individualized needs met.
“There are many people here who ask you how you are, what you need, and if you need a minute, that could range from a hug, a high five, a session with our school counselor, referrals to school based mental health services, depending on what the need is, so I will say it does not go unmet for long, because everybody knows everybody,” she said.
Students recently got more choices in their elective selection. Greer said middle schoolers were able to have a drum line, and have more opportunities to join sports teams including football, basketball, and cross country. They also restarted the publication of an annual yearbook.
Greer also highlighted that they help support rising 9th graders navigate their high school options, and each year up to 10 former Virgo students can receive some scholarship funding to attend UNCW.
On October 24, they’re planning a 60-year celebration of the 1965 dedication of the school for its namesake, D.C. Virgo. He spent his educational career empowering Black students at Williston.
According to publicly available records, the Chancellor’s Advisory Board, which oversees the school, only met once this year, in August; they reviewed agenda items on school data, a survey of after-school needs, and updates on staffing, budget, and NC Statute and policy changes. WHQR requested documents associated with these items on September 2, and has yet to receive them.
WHQR reached out to the UNC System’s point of contact for its lab schools, Dr. Clay Smith, and did not hear back. UNC Chapel Hill’s Dr. Kevin Bastian has also done research on the lab schools and didn’t respond to a request for comment.
This is the 2024 state report on the performance of UNC System’s nine lab schools
