Virginia School Boards Association

🎒📚 Back to school is just around the corner! 🍎✨
As students, teachers, staff, and families prepare for a new school year, let's celebrate all that makes our public schools special. Together, school divisions across the Commonwealth are Rooted and Ready to welcome students back, embrace new opportunities, and grow together in the year ahead!

Congratulations to the 2026 VSBA Statewide Student Art Contest winners, who were recognized and presented with their awards last week at the Conference on Education:
Elementary School Winner - Joseph Asael López Rivera from Galax City Public Schools
Middle School Winner - Arjanea Lewis from Greensville County Public Schools
High School Winner - Mia Johnson from Smyth County Public Schools

The 2026 VSBA Student Essay Contest also recognized two honorable mentions, Gleb Kasyan, a rising sophomore, from Arlington Public Schools and Evelyn Mullins, a rising senior, from Wi******er Public Schools!


You can view Gleb's speech here: https://youtu.be/Vvk-BMdeDeQ
You can view Evelyn's speech here: https://youtu.be/7mK9Gmuz0rQ
Click here to view the entire press release:https://www.vsba.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/2026-Student-Essay-News-Release.pdf

Congratulations to Sophie Poletsky from Portsmouth Public Schools on winning the 2026 VSBA Student Essay Contest! Sophie presented her award winning speech last week during the Conference on Education Luncheon. You can view her recorded speech here: https://youtu.be/o8kxTE998Qk

Last week during the 2026 VSBA Conference on Education, the 2026 VSBA Excellence in Workforce Readiness Award winners were announced! Congratulations to Salem City Schools - Salem, Virginia, Manassas City Public Schools, and Henrico County Public Schools for placing in their respective categories! You can check out the full press release here:https://www.vsba.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/VSBA_2026WorkforceAwardsRelease.pdf

Thank you to Madeline Duffy, 2027 Virginia Teacher of the Year, from Nottoway County Public Schools for bringing greetings and sharing your journey as a teacher with attendees!

Thank you to Dr. Jeffrey Smith, Virginia Secretary of Education, for taking the time to speak to attendees during today’s luncheon!

This year's breakout sessions featured exciting topics like school meals, positive school culture, CTE, chronic absenteeism, and much more! Thank you to this year's presenters for coming to share your knowledge!

This morning's General Session speaker, Dr. Phil Gore, gave an inspirational and and informative presentation on School Boards and Superintendents Working Together for Student Success.

This morning’s 2026 Conference on Education kicked off with a warm welcome from Jenny Nichols, VSBA President. The morning's presentation of colors was given by Norfolk Public Schools JROTC from Norview High School. Thank you to for sponsoring this year's conference.