SOL scores reveal improvements by Charles City and New Kent schools in 10 subject areas

Charles City County Public Schools and New Kent County Public Schools improved in 10 subject areas in recently released Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) tests.

The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) released reports on the test results this past week.

New Kent County Public Schools continue to remain one of the highest scoring school districts in the state. New Kent eclipsed the 90th percentile in the areas of End of Course Reading, End of Course Writing, Algebra I, Algebra II, and Geometry. New Kent reached the 80th percentile in the areas of fourth grade reading, fifth grade reading, seventh grade reading, civics and economics, Virginia Studies, grade three mathematics, grade four mathematics, grade five mathematics, grade eight mathematics, and biology.

New Kent Public schools saw increases in the areas of reading for grades three, four, five, and seven, end of course reading, end of course writing, Virginia Studies, mathematics in grades three and eight, and geometry. The biggest climb for the school system were in the subjects of Virginia Studies and geometry, which saw seven-point increases.

New Kent County faired well overall in their SOL testing but did see a couple of setbacks. Geography saw a 10-point pass rate decrease (64 to 54), while grade eight science fell by eight points (77 to 69). In past conversations, New Kent Superintendent of Schools Brian Nichols commented in past conversations about the SOL tests that many of the pass rates are skewed due to a low number of students taking certain tests. An example could be seen in this year’s SOL testing as few students tested in the areas of Virginia and U.S. History and Earth Science, which consisted of 17 and 21 pupils taking those exams, respectively.

New Kent Superintendent of Schools Brian Nichols praised the educators, staff, and community support system as the SOL scores were released.

“In New Kent, we make sure we know our students, build relationships with our families, utilized data to continuously improve, and put in the hard work to help our students achieve at the highest level,” he said. “Our team is incredibly strong because we work hard to hire, develop, and retain amazing people.

“Seeing our schools improve across ten subject areas shows that our teachers and students refuse to settle,” Nichols continued. “There’s a mindset here that we’re never finished growing, no matter how well we did last year. We are focused on getting one percent better every day. That attitude, more than any program or strategy, is what keeps pushing us forward. For us, success goes far beyond test scores; it is about ensuring every single graduate is ready to be employed, enlist, or enroll in postsecondary education.”

Nichols also wanted to remind those who review numbers for subjects that do not have a lot of pupils taking it not dwell in the fact on one test.

“In some of these smaller test groups, we might have only a handful of students taking a particular test,” he added. “When that’s the case, one student having a rough day or another doing incredibly well can dramatically alter the overall score.

“I’d just encourage people not to read too much into a single year’s number in those smaller areas,” Nichols said as he wrapped up his comments. “Look at the bigger picture over time and you’’ get a much truer sense of how our students and schools are really doing.”

In Charles City County, the public schools are slowly improving as a balance of scores saw improvements from 2025-26 SOL testing.

Charles City’s school system saw improvements in the subjects of reading for grades three, four, six, and eight, Civics and Economics, Virginia Studies, World History I, and mathematics for grades three, four, and seven. Charles City’s greatest improvement came in the area of grade four reading, which jumped by 16 points (39-55).

Charles City County Public Schools continue to work towards improvement, as SOL results tended to be average according to VDOE. The school system’s highest pass rate was in End of Course Reading with a mark of 75 percent. Civics and Economics was the second highest with 65 percent, while reading for grades seven and eight tied for the third highest rate at 60 percent.

Charles City Public Schools saw its biggest drop in two math categories, with fifth and eighth grades seeing declines. Fifth grade pass percentile fell by 17 percent (44 to 27), while eighth grade pass percentage fell from 42 percent to 19 percent. Similar to New Kent’s situation, Charles City County Public Schools have cited low test scores due to participation in subjects. An example is this year’s geometry, that only had 14 students take the course with only two students passing.

Charles City Superintendent of Schools Katina Otey spoke about the school’s improvement as well as future goals to continue the positive educational outlook.

“The growth we saw across various areas is a reflection of the intentional work of our teachers, administrators, and support staff,” she said. “We have been focused on using school data to identify specific areas of need, providing targeted interventions, strengthening instruction, and ensuring that student have access to the appropriate level of rigor and support.

“Just as importantly, we have worked to create a culture of high expectations and accountability while providing our educators with professional learning, collaboration, and resources to support that work,” Otey continued. “While we are encouraged by this year’s growth, we know there is still work to do.”
Otey continued said that ongoing efforts and support are being implemented to continue the growth of the school system and improve not only test scores, but also long-term student achievement.

“This year, we are strengthening our use of student data to identify learning gaps earlier and provide targeted interventions, particularly in reading and mathematics,” she commented. We are increasing instructional support through coaching, professional learning, and collaboration around high-impact practices through Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS).

“Most importantly, this is not a short-term initiative,” she added. “We have established clear goals and measurable indicators through our strategic plan and will monitor progress throughout the year. We are encouraged by this year’s growth, but we know sustained improvement will require consistency, intentionality, and collective responsibility, and we are committed to that work.”

When asked about the student population affecting scores, Otey commented that it does have a significant impact on scores and pass rates in the school district.

“When only a limited number of students are tested, one or two students passing or not passing can move the percentage considerably from year to year,” she commented. “This is important context when looking at individual subject-areas.

“We look at those scores carefully, but we do not rely on a single pass rate to determine whether our students or schools are making progress,” Otey continued. “We examine multiple years of data, student growth, achievement trends, and performance across grade levels and subject areas to get a more complete picture.

“This year’s improvement across several areas is encouraging because it reflects a broader pattern of growth rather than focusing on the fluctuation of any one small testing group,” the superintendent added as she wrapped up her comments. “At the same time, we remain focused on improving outcomes for every student and continuing to build sustainable academic growth across the division.”