Thirty-one Virginia schools were named among the top 100 high schools for teaching personal finance, including four local schools.

Christiansburg High School in Montgomery County, Craig County High School in Craig County, Jefferson Forest High School in Bedford County and Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke all made the cut.

The accolade comes from the group Working in Support of Education, or w!se. According to a news release from nonprofit New York City-based organization, the winners of the inaugural 100 Best w!se High Schools Teaching Personal Finance were announced during a recent ceremony at the New York Stock Exchange.

W!se provides a Financial Literacy Certification program to schools, which gives educators curriculum and instructional resources for teaching personal finance and students are later tested. The program is offered in 28 states.

“We created the Financial Literacy Certification Program to address the chronic lack of financial literacy among young people,” Phyllis Frankfort, w!se President and CEO, said in a statement. “It is imperative that students be exposed to personal financial education before they graduate high school, so they have the knowledge and skills to break the cycle of poverty and to start on the path toward financial wellbeing.”

Garden City Elementary School teacher Matthew Miller was told it was a kindergarten concert, but it wasn’t.

The Tuesday afternoon assembly was instead a surprise tribute to him courtesy of the Virginia Lottery.

Miller was named the area’s 2013 Virginia Lottery Super Teacher award winner. He was surprised with the honor during a school assembly that started off with a performance by the school’s tiniest singers.

“I feel speechless,” he said after the assembly, adding he had no idea what was going to happen.

Miller, 28, is a first year teacher at the school and works with autistic students. He was nominated for the award by his girlfriend, who described him as a passionate, devoted educator who believes every child can learn. According to the nomination, Miller can be found working in his classroom until 10 p.m and sings to his students in the mornings.

“I love it,” he said of his work at Garden City. “These are a great group of kids.”

He became emotional as he made his way from the auditorium floor where he sat with students to the stage where he collected, along with a young student, a giant check.

As a Super Teacher winner Miller received $2,000 in cash and a $2,000 credit to the Supply Room Companies. The Virginia Lottery asks for nominations each year and selects eight teachers from around the state for the award.

Miller, who moved to Virginia from Pennsylvania last spring after graduating college with a master’s degree, said growing up he was a foster child and attended city schools in Philadelphia

“Education was a way to speak to kids,” he said.

Do you know Miller? Have you worked with him? Is he your child’s teacher? What makes him such a dedicated educator?

Associated Press photo

In the tragic news out of Oklahoma yesterday there are also stories of heroic teachers, who protected their students fiercely and in many cases saved lives as a deadly tornado struck two schools there.

Here’s a look at some of the stories of educators who, not surprisingly, put students first.

– One mother recounted to reporters how her son’s teacher rescued him from debris. She said the teacher is now in the hospital.

“I have no doubt that God and his teacher….they lifted a wall off of these kids, several kids,” she told CNN.

– In this story from USA Today there are reports that “teachers shielded children with their bodies” to protect them during the storm.

– CNN has also apparently reported that people on the The Oklahoman’s breathtaking front page are teachers. The page shows a man carrying a child from the wreckage and behind him a woman holding the hand of a child also walking away from the rubble.

Welcome to another recap of the latest graduation stories. In case you missed the first installment you can find a link here.

Last week Virginia Tech graduated more than 5,800 students, including about 170 from the school’s smallest academic college. As reporter Tonia Moxley writes small doesn’t mean inconsequential. And what did outgoing university President Charles Steger have to say to the Class of 2013? Find out here.

Also check out the Storify Feed of Tech’s graduation. It includes tons of pictures from grads. It’s prettying interesting to see commencement through the eyes of those actually experiencing it.

Hollins University held its commencement on Sunday where the school graduated 217 students, including Isabel Booth, who has an inspiring story of the long journey to complete her college education.

Up next are graduation ceremonies at Washington and Lee University and the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine. They are May 23 and June 1 respectively.

And don’t forget to check out our graduations page, which includes links to stories and details on upcoming commencement ceremonies.

Thaxton Elementary School teacher Kathy Barton has been named Bedford County’s Teacher of the Year, according to a news release from the school system.

Barton, who has been at the school since 2008, is a fourth grade teacher. Her colleagues said she has the ability to deal with difficult situations by staying calm and keeping a sense of humor.

According to the press release, those who work with her also said she’s compassionate, dedicated and easy to talk to.

Thaxton Principal Kim Halterman said in a email Barton is an impressive educator.

“Her students cooperate well, share ideas, and discuss academic content in rich ways. She works very hard to reach every child in her class, and she teaches in innovative ways to improve student academic skills,” Halterman said.

Barton joins a crew of the area’s top educators. In recent weeks, local school systems have each named their teachers of the year. In case you need a recap here are a few links.

In Salem City Schools Tarri Gauck was named its top teacher. In Roanoke Daniel Kuehl was the Teacher of the Year and in Roanoke County Charlie Filer snagged the award. In Montgomery County Bradley Kraft was dubbed the system’s best educator.

One of Roanoke City Public Schools top leaders is retiring this summer after decades with the school system as a teacher, administrator and even as a student.

Submitted photo — Roanoke City Public Schools

Officials announced the retirement of Vella Wright, the school system’s assistant superintendent for teaching and learning, during Tuesday’s school board meeting. Hopefully you didn’t miss that nugget of important info in today’s story.

Wright has spent the last six years as assistant superintendent, according to the school system’s website.

Prior to that Wright served as executive director for human resources; director of research, testing and evaluation; mathematics supervisor and years as a math teacher and department chair at Patrick Henry High School.

She is also a graduate of the school system. Wright is an alumna of William Fleming High School.

Roanoke schools leaders lamented losing her and gave her a standing ovation Tuesday evening.

“Let me say this about Dr. Wright, it’s not only the school system, but the community, that has a lot of respect for you,” board member Annette Lewis said.

Board Chairman David Carson said Wright’s departure hits close to the heart.

“I hope you’re not going to go very far because we’ll miss you a great deal,” he said.

Have you work worked with Wright or perhaps been taught by her? How did she impact you? What role has she played in the school system? Thoughts? Comments? Stories?

The Salem School Board is expected to discuss changes to school system policy to address text message communication between staff, including volunteers, and students.

You might recall that last month Salem Superintendent Alan Seibert said the system planned to review its policy after a former Salem High School volunteer volleyball coach was arrested on child pornography charges in March.

Dewayne Thomas Barger, 37, is accused of secretly recording videos of players changing clothes and bathing in his apartment.  He has also been accused by a former Salem player of lavishing unwelcome attention upon her while he was her coach, including dinner invitations, gifts and inappropriately texting her.

You can find Salem’s proposed policy changes here. The board is only scheduled to discuss the proposals this evening and no vote is expected. The potential changes include language added to refer to volunteers as staff, as well as an adding section on texting and social media.

Here’s a look at some of what’s proposed to be added:

The Board acknowledges that electronic communication (including social media and text messaging) are effective communication tools used by teachers, parents, and students.  

Teachers, coaches, and club sponsors who elect to use social media and text communications are expected to inform parents and immediate supervisors in advance that they intend to use electronic communication methods, how these tools will be used, and how parents may also access or receive copies of communications.  

Social media and text communications should be used almost exclusively to:

• provide multiple recipients with information related to school, athletic, and/or extracurricular activities.  (Examples of “multiple recipients” include groups of involved students, parents who have requested copies of electronic communications, and immediate supervisors when appropriate); and

• answer school-related questions in a timely and professional manner.

All communications are expected to reflect the professional appropriate relationship that exists between staff and the students they supervise as outlined in Board Policy GBDA: Staff-Student Relations and the high professional standards for conduct outlined in Board Policy GCPC: Standards of Staff Conduct

So what do you think? Do the changes make sense? Do they go far enough? Are they too much?

In case you haven’t noticed graduation season is here and area commencement ceremonies are underway so let’s recap the stories of the Class of 2013 so far.

Virginia Western Community College and Jefferson College both held their graduations Friday.

A Virginia Western student’s achievement has earned her a full ride to Hollins University after financial strain put her dreams of a four-year school on hold two years ago. And at Jefferson an Army vet is graduating after studying health and exercise science, which is a new program of study at the school.

Radford University held its graduation Saturday. Here’s a touching piece on a Radford grad, who skipped her formal graduation for her doctoral degree in nursing practice, to instead be at her daughter’s graduation from  Liberty University. The two woman have an amazing story about perseverance through grief.

Virginia Tech will hold its graduation on Friday. So, what goes into planning the school’s commencement ceremony? Meet Dan Taylor the chairman of the commencement committee at Virginia Tech.

High school graduations are up next. Don’t forget we’re still looking for inspiring stories of high school graduates. Know someone? Comment here or email me.

Remember the U.S. News top high school rankings where local schools appeared and we talked how that list is different from the Washington Post list? Well, I said I’d be back with more information so here we go.

The Roanoke Times I File photo

Last month U.S. News and the Post released their lists (we’ll recap the local schools that made the Post list in a minute) and Monday Newsweek and the Daily Beast unveiled their own list of best schools.

By now you’re thinking: “huh?”

Stick with me.

There are three lists of the country’s top high schools. (Is that silly or constructive? Please let me know in the comments section.) Each list uses somewhat different methodology and the Newsweek/ Daily Beast list is the new(ish) kid on the block. According to a press release, this is only the second year it’s been compiled.

Putting the debate on the merits of such lists aside, it is kind of interesting to see how local schools vary from list to list.

So first the Post rankings and then onto the Newsweek/ Daily Beast.

The Post list, a longstanding tradition spearheaded by the paper’s education guru Jay Matthews, ranks high schools statewide and nationally.  The America’s Most Challenging High Schools list as it is known ranks schools through “an index formula.”

According to the Post’s website, the formula is a ratio: the number of Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and Advanced International Certificate of Education tests given at a school each year, divided by the number of seniors who graduated that year. Schools are ranked in order of ratio. Get the full details here.

The following local schools made the cut:

– Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, which placed 33rd in Virginia and 397th nationwide.

– Blacksburg High School in Montgomery County, which placed 47th in Virginia and 672nd nationwide.

– Hidden Valley High School in Roanoke County, which placed 53nd in Virginia and 850th nationwide.

– Jefferson Forest High School in Bedford County, which placed 64th in Virginia and 1,058th nationwide.

– Faith Christian School, which placed 69th in Virginia and 1,163rd nationwide.

– Cave Spring High School in Roanoke County, which placed 77th in Virginia and 1,305th nationwide.

On to the Newsweek/Daily Beast list, which ranks the best 2,000 public high schools in the country. According to the Daily Beast website, the list looks at six components to identify schools that are most effective at making sure students graduate college-ready.

The rankings consider graduation rate, college acceptance rate, Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and Advanced International Certificate of Education tests taken per student, average SAT/ACT scores, average Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and Advanced International Certificate of Education scores and percent of students enrolled in at least one Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and Advanced International Certificate of Education course. Check out the full methodology here.

The following local schools made the list:

– Hidden Valley High School in Roanoke County, which ranked 499th.

– Cave Spring High School in Roanoke County, which ranked 525th.

– Blacksburg High School in Montgomery County, which ranked 1,254th.

– Salem High School in Salem, which ranked 1,529th.

– Jefferson Forest High School in Bedford County, which ranked 1,593rd.

– Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, which ranked 1,868th.

So, what do you think?

Roanoke City Public Schools Superintendent Rita Bishop has been named Virginia’s Superintendent of the Year, according to a news release from the school system.

The Charlottesville-based Virginia Association of School Superintendents named Bishop this year’s winner at its conference Tuesday evening.

Bishop was named the Region VI Superintendent of the Year in February, making it the third year in a row a Roanoke Valley superintendent has earned the distinction. She was chosen Tuesday as state’s top superintendent from a field of seven other regional winners.

Bishop, who has been at the helm of Roanoke schools since 2007, has been credited with improving the school system’s graduation rate and bolstering student achievement.

In a statement Bishop called the honor humbling.

“Any success that I have had is the direct result of the wonderful people I work with,” she said in the statement.

Bishop will now represent the state in the National Superintendent of the Year competition in February 2014.

Roanoke County Schools Superintendent Lorraine Lange was a finalist in the national competition in 2012. Lange was also named regional superintendent of the year and later Virginia in 2011.