York schools edge out W-JCC in SOL test pass rates -- who's up and down

Good morning! Today we dig into the SOL results for Williamsburg-James City County and York County schools.

Sep 03, 2025

woman carrying white and green textbook — Photo by javier trueba on Unsplash

School board members who are pushing for significantly improved reading scores for students at Williamsburg-James City County schools were probably disappointed by the results of last spring’s testing, which were released last week by the state department of education.

York County students generally performed better, with pass rates that were higher by double digits in many cases.

English reading scores fell for the third year in a row for students in Third and Fourth Grade at WJCC schools, with pass rates of 67% and 75%, respectively.

Several board members have openly expressed a desire to see reading pass rates of 85% or better, but none of the school system’s pass rates surpassed 81%

Older students in 6^th and 7^th grades saw an improvement in their scores, while 8th graders’ pass rate dropped slightly to 78%, after improving to 80% the previous year.

In fact, sixth grade reading saw the highest jump over the past two years, up nine points to 81%. That was one of the two highest scores in the system, along with 5th grade Math, also with an 81% pass rate.

Williamsburg-James City County schools saw much more fluctuation – positive and negative – among the different grading systems, while York’s results remained relatively stable.

By contrast, York County’s lowest pass rate in English was at 85% for 3d graders, who dropped two points from last year’s exams.

York’s lowest pass rate was for 7^th grade Math, at 64%, up two points from the previous year. All other grades scored above 80% pass rates for reading, math and science.

Sy 2024 2025 Division Test By Test Final

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Guest Opinion:

A Center of Hope: The Importance of Our New Center for Support and Wellness

By David Coe, Executive Director, Colonial Behavioral Health

In the coming days, Colonial Behavioral Health will break ground on what will become a beacon of hope and healing for our community: the CBH Center for Support and Wellness. This facility represents more than just bricks, mortar, and modern design. It embodies our region’s collective commitment to addressing the mental health and substance use crises with compassion, urgency, and innovation.

Read complete essay in our Opinion page.