Danville schools outline micro‑credential program, new CTE pathways and SOL grading change ahead of year

Dr. Harrison presented a consolidated back‑to‑school report to the Danville City Public Schools board, describing a new micro‑credential professional learning program for teachers, expanded career and technical education (CTE) pathways, and the district’s early adoption of a revised Standards of Learning (SOL) grading conversion.

Why it matters: the initiatives are intended to boost instructional quality and to align classroom assessments with state changes to SOL scoring that will affect secondary course grades.

Dr. Harrison described the micro‑credentialing program as “short, targeted, certified certifications that validate our teachers' specific skills and knowledge.” Teachers will choose from a menu of offerings aligned to district priorities — literacy, math fluency, STEM and strategies for special populations — and complete a minimum of 15 hours to earn a professional badge. “To complete the micro credential program, they must engage in picking instructional strategies, high quality instructional materials, classroom management, and also training as it relates to supporting special populations,” Dr. Harrison said. The district described tiered recognition at 15 hours (professional), 30 hours (mastery), 45 hours (specialist) and 60 hours (expert).

On CTE offerings, Dr. Harrison said new middle‑ and high‑school pathways will be available, with several new options highlighted in orange on the presentation screen. Middle‑school offerings will include industry technology and engineering pathways; high‑school additions include aviation logistics (drones, piloting and aviation maintenance), environmental management (ecology, forestry and outdoor recreation), mechatronics (automation and robotics) and a fashion pathway focused on marketing, design and merchandising. Dr. Harrison said the Motivate and Innovate academies will host the new high‑school pathways.

The district also told the board it is preparing for a state change to the SOL scoring scale. Under House Bill 1957, the SOL exam will be scored on a 100‑point scale and, beginning in the 2026–27 school year, SOL results will account for 10% of final course grades in grades 7–12. Danville Public Schools said it has already applied the 10% weighting in its high‑school grading policy and will expand the practice to grades 6–8 this year to give families an earlier transition. Dr. Harrison said the state has not yet released the conversion chart from the 600‑point scale to 100; until that chart is available the district will continue using its existing DPS grading conversion chart.

Dr. Harrison also updated the board on high‑quality instructional materials (HQIM). Several vendors’ materials (Kiddom, Cengage and Pearson) have been delivered to the district site and teacher training has been provided in July; additional print materials were expected to be delivered to schools in mid‑August. “We provided training to all teachers on July on their materials,” Dr. Harrison said, and staff will continue training in August.

Board members asked procedural questions about school choice and micro‑credential logistics. Miss Walker asked how parents apply to the Go Tech pathway; Dr. Harrison said the district publishes a school choice catalog to every Danville resident and maintains three application windows (fall, January and a summer window). Dr. Williams confirmed micro‑credentials are completed individually by teachers and count toward licensure and recertification points.

The presentation closed with Dr. Harrison noting the programs are intended to “give our teachers voice and choice in their professional learning options” and to produce strategies that teachers can implement “right away” in classrooms.

The board did not take any formal action on the micro‑credential program, CTE offerings or SOL alignment during this item.