A photo of two women looking at a laptop
Kume Goranson, Ed.D., (left) executive director, CodeRVA, with Kim McKnight, Ph.D., executive director of RTR Teacher Residency. The VCU x CodeRVA Lab School will help provide an innovative computer science-focused comprehensive high school education. (Kevin Morley, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)

Jan. 16, 2024

VCU, CodeRVA to celebrate launch of VCU x CodeRVA Lab School

Gov. Glenn Youngkin will attend Wednesday’s kickoff and deliver remarks.

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By Brian McNeill

Nearly 100 high school students will celebrate the new VCU x CodeRVA Lab School — a joint project of the School of Education’s RTR Teacher Residency program at Virginia Commonwealth University and CodeRVA Regional High School — at a kickoff event on Wednesday, Jan. 17, at VCU.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin will attend and deliver remarks. Speakers will also include VCU President Michael Rao, Ph.D., and a current VCU x CodeRVA Lab School student.

The event will be held at 10 a.m. at VCU’s Engineering Research Building, 401 W. Cary St.

The VCU x CodeRVA Lab School will provide an innovative computer science-focused comprehensive high school education to a diverse student body at CodeRVA, serve as a training site for teacher residents and offer professional learning opportunities for educators across the state.

The Virginia Board of Education unanimously approved VCU x CodeRVA as Virginia’s first lab school in July 2023 as part of a model in which universities and school divisions collaborate to establish public lab schools that stimulate innovative programs in K-12 education; provide opportunities for innovation in instruction and assessment; provide teachers with an avenue for delivering innovative instruction and school scheduling, management and structure; and other objectives.

It was followed in November by two additional lab schools: Germanna Community College’s Future Educators Academy and the University of Mary Washington’s Academy of Technology and Innovation.