October 24, 2022

Fauquier County Public Schools (FCPS) recorded an on-time graduation rate of 94.8% in 2022, according to data released by the Virginia Department of Education. FCPS continued to achieve high graduation rates in all subgroup categories while maintaining a low dropout rate of 2.7%, compared to the state average of 5.2%.

Superintendent Dr. David Jeck credits teachers for not giving up on students. 

“Our teachers and staff continue to amaze me. We’ve experienced a couple of very difficult years, and we’ve asked a lot of our teachers, staff, and students, and they have continued to achieve at very high levels despite many obstacles,” Jeck said. “I want to thank our teachers and our students in particular. We are very fortunate in this community to have such outstanding representatives of what our school community is all about.”

The on-time rate refers to first-time ninth-graders who entered high school in the fall of 2018 and graduated on time in 2022.  Once again, Fauquier County’s rate exceeds the state rate of 92.1 percent. VDOE started reporting the rates in 2008 based on longitudinal student data accounting for student mobility, retention and other factors; the following are FCPS on-time graduation rates released in the annual VDOE reports.

Not only did the school division fare well overall, but FCPS also continued to achieve high graduation rates in four subgroup categories—Black students (90.0%), Hispanic students (92.1%), Economically Disadvantaged students (90.9%) and English Language Learners (76.6 %). In 2022, FCPS continued to make gains in the Students with Disabilities category (soaring to 95.3%), with 17 of those students earning advanced studies diplomas.

“Each year, I continue to be amazed at the hard work and dedication of all of our staff,” Deputy Superintendent Dr. Major Warner said. “To graduate students on time each year is a herculean task that can only be accomplished because each one of our teachers and administrators K-12 does their very best to create a positive learning environment. In doing so, kids are connected to their schools, and therefore, we have drastically increased the likelihood of a successful outcome.”

“We all need to remember that evidence of school quality comes in many forms, and this is one of those key indicators that reflects the overall success of our schools,” Warner added.
 

How Do We Compare?
The 2022 FCPS on-time graduation rate ranks very favorably in comparison to school divisions of similar size throughout the state.  Fauquier landed third among the 18 school divisions in the Commonwealth with student enrollments ranging from 8,000 to 16,000.  The following chart reflects the on-time graduation rates for those 18 school divisions.