Two NNPS schools make VQB5 Honor Roll
Posted: October 27, 2025
Hidenwood and McIntosh elementary schools in Newport News made the Virginia Quality Birth to Five Improvement Honor Roll for the Chesapeake Bay Region, which places them in the top 10% of Virginia schools that showed improvement in the VQB5 ratings released this month.
The Virginia Department of Education, in partnership with the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation and the nine Ready Regions, administers VQB5 Virginia's statewide early childhood measurement system. VQB5 uses Classroom Assessment Scoring System observation scores and use of an approved curriculum to determine the ratings.
Hidenwood and McIntosh, each of which have one Program for Educating Exceptional Preschoolers class that is evaluated by VQB5, were recognized for showing year-to-year improvement in the CLASS observations category.
"Our early childhood programs in NNPS prioritize providing high-quality, effective teacher-child interactions and instruction for every child, every day," said Annemarie Hanrahan, preschool instructional supervisor for Newport News Public Schools. "Research has shown us that stimulating and supportive interactions paired with quality curricula and instructional materials promotes a child's holistic learning and development, resulting in improved school readiness."
VQB5 measures and supports the quality of this teaching and learning in early childhood classrooms, she added. This type of school and classroom-level data helps guide schools and school divisions as they support and practice a model of continuous reflection and growth.
Parents can find quality ratings information online for 3,293 public and private early childhood sites, including child care centers, family day homes, Head Start programs and public schools, according to the VDOE. This year, Virginia launched three VQB5 Honor Rolls to recognize 494 early childhood sites: Excellence Honor Roll, Infant-Toddler Quality Honor Roll and Improvement Honor Roll.
"We are proud that two of our sites, Hidenwood and McIntosh, received recognition as Improvement Honor Roll schools," Hanrahan said. "This is just another shining example of the dedicated early childhood staff we have showing up for our youngest learners every day in NNPS."
