West Point, a paper mill town in Virginia’s Tidewater, has achieved quite a distinction: Its school system had the highest percentage of students passing at least two of the three Standards of Learning tests this year: 95 percent passed the English tests, 95 percent passed science, and 94 percent passed math. It wasn’t a one-year fluke: West Point scored tops last year, too.
Located in King William County, West Point is not an elitest, white suburban enclave. Three thousand of the county’s 13,000 residents (2000 Census) are black. The county’s per capita income of $22,000 (1999) was 30th from the top, not bad, but not what you’d call affluent either. (I can’t find the K-12 budget numbers because the Department of Education server seems to be down, but I’m willing to bet that King William isn’t throwing extravagant sums of money at its schools. Interestingly, one fifth of West Point’s students live outside the town, often in neighboring counties, and pay a tuition of $2,250 to attend — not exactly a king’ s ransom.)
So, what’s the secret?
According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, School Board member Larry Dillon attributes the school system’s success to “a culture that focuses on the basics.” Said Dillon: “You set the tone at an early age, and by the time they get to high school, the high expectations are embedded in them.” No whining. No excuses. No finger pointing and evading responsibility. Just setting high expectations and sticking to the basics.
