In addition to the broad spectrum of programs in each comprehensive high school, Chesterfield County Public Schools offers high school students the opportunity to focus on special interests. During eighth grade, Chesterfield students decide whether or not to apply to a specialty center within Chesterfield County Public Schools, to a governor’s school or to a regional technology school.
Most specialty centers require prerequisites to apply. The applicant scoring process includes a variety of components. Some centers require standardized tests. Rubrics are used to evaluate applicants, and different components are weighted according to the center’s focus. Each student is given a total score, and the scores are then ranked.
Application scores are kept confidential with the exception of test scores, if applicable. Blank rubrics are available for parental review if requested. The process is flexible enough to support an individual student with a profile that does not meet the absolute goal stated in the prerequisite.
Specialty centers enroll students based on program capacity. Students are selected by composite score, with students’ middle schools used in phase one of selection. The number of available slots for rising freshmen in specialty centers are dependent upon the individual center’s programming. The allocation of available slots occur in two phases with the following guidelines:
Phase one: Top candidates above a determined threshold from each middle school will be offered admission; the number of potential offers at this phase will be determined by the total number of available slots and the eighth-grade class size at each middle school:
Phase two: Top candidates not selected in phase one will be offered admission for any remaining division slots.
Admission continues on a rolling basis. Once an offer is accepted, you should decline any other placement offers. If you are on any waitlists, you may accept an offer and remain on the waitlist. Students accept or decline offers across programs until the designated deadline. Students are moved from waitlists to placement offers as often as there are available seats.
Students should accept a specialty center placement offer as soon as a decision is made. Students must accept an offer within the designated two-week window, and offers that are not accepted by the deadline are automatically declined.
Specialty centers use waiting lists for students whose application scores are above the predetermined threshold but who did not receive an initial offer. If you receive an offer to be placed on a waitlist, you can accept or decline. Each waitlist offer must be answered individually. If you do not want to remain on a waitlist, you must decline them individually. You may accept multiple waitlist offers.
The number of students on a waitlist changes daily as students accept or decline offers. Students will be chosen from the waiting list as slots become available up to the point when master schedules are being developed. Generally, specialty centers continue to fill open slots from the waitlist through the end of the current school year. However, most of the movement from a waitlist occurs before mid-May. In the past, there has been some movement from waitlists through the end of the school year due to families moving, students deciding to attend their home high school, etc.
Students who withdraw from a center will return to their home high school. Students who withdraw during grades 10-12 may apply for a waiver to remain at the high school. If a waiver is not granted, the student will return to their home high school. Learn more about each specialty center by viewing this video and visiting each specialty center’s website.
Students who reside in Chesterfield County may apply to participate in two regional governor’s school opportunities. Learn more about the application process for these schools here. Students may also apply to CodeRVA, a regional magnet school for computer science.
Two Career and Technical Centers located at Hull Street and Courthouse Road prepare students with skills, knowledge, and credentials for future endeavors. There is no tuition for CCPS students.
Chesterfield County Public Schools
