More than 1,600 members of the Class of 2025 crossed the stage in June of 2025 to receive their high school diplomas.

The graduates of the Class of 2025 earned more than $75 million in scholarships and received approximately 2,400 college, university and military institution acceptance offers. Newport News Public Schools prepared these graduates to be prepared for any avenue they choose to pursue.

Five NNPS teachers became National Board Certified, which is the highest credential in the teaching profession: Warwick High School science teacher Gretchen DeWall, Dual Language Immersion in the Department of Teaching and Learning instructional coach Sarah Olsen, B.C. Charles Elementary School professional school counselor Nancy Peterson, Sanford Elementary School art teacher Katherine Nicole Piland and McIntosh Elementary School English as a Second Language teacher Tracy Skinner.

Four NNPS Career and Technical Education teachers were named W!se Gold Star Teachers for their students’ successful performance on the W!se Financial Literacy Certification Test: Hope London and Lisa McAlister at Denbigh High School and Reginald Neely and Kimberly Grant at Warwick High School. To earn the Gold Star Award, a teacher must have at least a 93% passing rate on the W!SE (Working in Support of Education) Financial Literacy Certification Test in at least one class during the school year.

LeRonica Moses, a special education teacher at Knollwood Meadows Elementary School, received Old Dominion University’s Elementary Clinical Faculty Member of the Year Award. The award recognizes the excellent work of teachers in schools mentoring and coaching ODU teacher candidates.

Warwick High School Athletic Director Lucas Brown was named 2025 Virginia Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association Class 5/6 Athletic Director of the Year. He currently serves on the Virginia High School League Executive Committee and VIAAA Board of Directors, and is Athletic Director Chair of Region 5B as well as the Peninsula District.

Sanford Elementary School Principal Dr. Edward Van Dyke was chosen to receive a 2024-2025 Virginia PTA Power Partners award. The awards for partnering with the Parent Teacher Association went to two superintendents and three principals from around the state.

NNPS developed and launched a division-wide PK-12 Literacy Plan to build the capacity of all learners as readers, writers, communicators and researchers. Implementation strategies include innovative and equitable practices that close achievement gaps and increase access to rigorous learning experiences that are reflective of the NNPS Profile of a Learner.

NNPS broke ground on the new Huntington Middle School in the fall of 2024. Construction of the school is a partnership between NNPS and the City of Newport News and is one of multiple public amenities planned for the same block.

A collaborative lab school partnership between Old Dominion University and NNPS established the new Maritime Engineering and Environmental Studies Academy. The new magnet school option will be available for NNPS students for the 2025-2026 school year. The program will focus on maritime engineering and maritime environmental studies and will be housed at the ODU Brooks Crossing Innovation Lab.

NNPS signed a partnership with Riverside College of Health Sciences to enhance career pathways for students at the Governor’s Health Sciences Academy at Warwick High School. The geographic proximity of Riverside to Warwick, along with the approximately 400 students attending the GHSA and graduating either career or college ready, combined for a perfect fit to try to address the shortage of professionals in the healthcare fields.

Liam Barnstead, a senior in Woodside High School’s Arts & Communications Magnet Program, earned Virginia Music Educators Association All-State Band for all four years of high school for French Horn. Earning the distinction four times is considered extremely rare and special.

The Virginia General Assembly recognized NNPS Youth Development’s accomplishments and contributions to the community with a resolution during the General Assembly session.  Youth Development staff, student representatives and community partners visited the State Capitol to be recognized as the resolution was passed.

Five NNPS Schools were recognized as exemplar Schools. Deer Park Elementary School earned a Highest Achievement Award, and Hidenwood Elementary School, Katherine Johnson Elementary School, Huntington Middle School and Woodside High School earned Continuous Improvement Awards through the Virginia Board of Education Exemplar School Recognition Program.

Katherine Johnson Elementary School was honored with the prestigious Christine Darden STEM Community Partnerships Award given by the Family and Community Engagement Learning Network and Successful Innovations Inc. A cross-departmental collaboration between NNPS FACE specialists, STEM leads and Instructional Technology coaches worked together on the STEM Night event that was recognized. The Darden award recognizes individuals and schools that have made significant contributions to enhancing STEM education and impacting family engagement in these vital fields.

The Department of Defense Education Activity awarded a $2 million grant to NNPS for STEM education. The five-year grant will increase STEM education through after-school robotics programs and space camps, including an overnight summer space camp for high school students at Wallops Island, for students in 12 NNPS schools. The school division will establish a new partnership with the Virginia Space Flight Academy to bring new and innovative STEM programs to students.

General Stanford Elementary School was recognized with the 2024-2025 Purple Star 2nd Award from the Virginia Department of Education. The Virginia Purple Star Designation is awarded to military-friendly schools that have demonstrated a major commitment to students and families connected to the U.S. military.

Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada awarded the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award to the Newport News School Board for its annual budget document for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2024. The budget document also received special recognition for its strategic goals and strategies category.

William & Mary’s School of Education and Newport News Public Schools were jointly selected to receive the 2025 School-University Partnership Project Award by the Virginia Association of Colleges and Teacher Educators. The award is a statewide recognition honoring collaborative initiatives between Virginia’s higher education institutions and K-12 school divisions that enhance student learning, well-being and teacher preparation.

Newport News Public Schools was honored with the Best Communities for Music Education designation from The NAMM Foundation for its outstanding commitment to music education. This is the eighth time NNPS has received this recognition.

Warwick High School’s team won Blue Crab Bowl 2025, which is Virginia’s regional competition of the National Ocean Sciences Bowl. Warwick advanced to the NOSB National Finals Competition, where it finished seventh.

Sahasra Vishwanathan, a ninth grader at Menchville High School, was selected as the first place winner for high school students in the 2025 Distinguished Trailblazers in the Sciences Competition. The contest was sponsored by Michigan State University, its Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, and the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility.

The Virginia School Boards Association selected the NNPS Telecommunications program’s video “Kindness Goes a Long Way” as the winner in the Kindness in Sports category of its 13th Annual High School Student Video Contest.

Woodside High’s Schools Boys Indoor Track Team won the 2025 Virginia High School League Class 5 State Championship.

Woodside’s Deimon “DJ” Collins earned the 2025 Class 5 state championship in both Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field Boys Triple Jump.

Heritage High School’s Girls Indoor Track 4X200 Meter Relay Team comprised of Tyla Clarke, Ahnasti Brown, Giani Darden and Jaleia Beasley won the 2025 VHSL Class 3 State Championship.

Woodside High School’s Kita Tibbs won the 2025 VHSL Creative Writing State Championship in the Poem Category.

NNPS teams and individuals qualified in March for the 2025 National Archery in the Schools Program U.S. Eastern Nationals. In the Bullseye competition, Richneck Elementary School’s team and Richneck’s Ava Crawford as well as B.C. Charles student Sophia Coberly qualified. In 3D, Richneck, Ella Fitzgerald Middle School and Menchville High School qualified as teams along with individual archers Crawford, Kamryn Moore and Cailynn Bromell from Richneck, Charles’ Violet Singletary, Fitzgerald’s Zoey Stanley and Menchville’s Sebastian Arsenault and Lillian Roman.

An Achievable Dream Academy, McIntosh Elementary School, Yates Elementary School, B.T. Washington Middle School and Warwick High School earned top honors for their outstanding performances at the 2025 Regional Odyssey of the Mind Tournament in March, 2025. Warwick and B. T. Washington advanced to compete at the Virginia State Odyssey of the Mind Tournament in April, where they both placed third. NNPS hosted both the regional and state tournaments at Menchville.

Seven high school student musicians earned the All-Virginia distinction. Warwick High School students Natalee Cameron and Casey York and Woodside High School student Taryn Wheeler were named to the All-Virginia Chorus. Woodside High School’s Liam Barnstead was named All-Virginia Band for an unprecedented fourth time, and was joined on that list by Menchville High School’s Connor Landers, Abigail Mayer and Christian Wennin.  Selection to an All-Virginia ensemble represents the highest honor that the Virginia Music Educators Association can bestow upon a student musician.

Menchville High School’s Air Force Junior ROTC program was awarded the 2024-2025 Distinguished Unit Award with Merit and Menchville ROTC instructor Chief Master Sgt. Christopher Rambali was awarded the Outstanding Instructor Award. This achievement is the result of the unit scoring 97% or greater on the annual unit evaluation, averaging over 20 community service hours per cadet, meeting or exceeding all Headquarters deadlines, and successfully achieving all unit-generated SMART goals.

The Menchville High School Music Department was awarded the Virginia Music Educators Association 2025 Blue Ribbon Award. The award is the highest award given to school music programs and recognizes achieved excellence in band, orchestra and choral performance.

Menchville High School’s Band earned the Virginia Honor Band designation for the 11th time. Bands achieving superior ratings at the state marching band festival and at a district concert festival are recognized as an Honor Band, the highest award that can be bestowed upon bands by the Virginia Band and Orchestra Directors Association.