During its meeting on Tuesday, February 24, the Orange County School Board appointed Robert P. “Bob” Grimesey, Jr. as its superintendent of schools for 2009-2010.

Grimesey, 52, will conclude his eighth and final year as superintendent of Alleghany County Public Schools on June 30.  As superintendent in Orange, he will be responsible for leadership of a school division with 5,127 students, 893 employees and nine schools.  Orange has a $47.5 million budget for 2008-2009.

“This is a very emotional time for me and for my family,” Grimesey said.  “It’s impossible to describe how I feel about this transition.  On one hand, I am deeply honored and very inspired by the trust bestowed in me by the Orange County School Board.  On the other hand, I am humbled by the love and respect I have shared with our entire Alleghany County Public Schools family during the past eight years.”

“Dr. Grimesey has given a new meaning to education in the Alleghany Highlands over the last eight years,” said Alleghany County School Board Chairman Randy Tucker.  “His enthusiasm, dedication, and compassion for our children have inspired our school division to reach levels that we might not have thought possible in the past.  As Dr. Grimesey leaves the highlands, his legacy will continue to inspire the children, staff, and the school board to raise the bar even higher than where we are today.”

 “I would like personally thank Dr. Grimesey for providing years of guidance so that we could achieve AYP (adequate yearly progress) for the division, for the countless hours of work beyond what anyone will ever know, for his family’s sacrifices, and for his service to all of the children of Alleghany County,” Tucker added.

Tucker said Grimesey had kept him and other members of the School Board informed of his involvement with Orange County since January.  As it became apparent that Grimesey might depart, Tucker said the School Board developed a plan for replacing him.  He said the School Board is committed to moving swiftly with the process.  “In the school board’s pursuit to provide the highest quality education to our children, we recognize that the replacement of our superintendent is one of our most important responsibilities,” Tucker added.

The Alleghany School Board is expected to act on Grimesey’s formal resignation no later than its March 16 meeting, Tucker said.

Grimesey was appointed to replace Martin Loughlin in 2001.  Since that time, the school division has continued to expand upon its tradition of excellence.  In 2008, Alleghany was one of only 17 Virginia school systems where the division and all of its individual schools met all “adequate yearly progress” (AYP) benchmarks associated with the federal “No Child Left Behind” law.  It is one of only five Virginia school districts where the division and all of its individual schools met AYP for the past three straight years.  In addition, all seven Alleghany schools have met Virginia’s standards for “full accreditation” in each of the past five years.  During each of those same five years, over 90 percent of the school division’s third graders have demonstrated reading ability that was at-or-above their grade level.

One of Alleghany’s schools, Sharon Elementary, was recognized in 2007 as a Distinguished Title I School by the Virginia Department of Education and as a national “No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon School” by the U.S. Department of Education.

Alleghany’s success has been achieved in spite of the fact that 43% of its students qualify for free and reduced price lunches and 18% of its students qualify for special education services.

“I have just been blessed to have been part of a wonderful team,” Grimesey said.  “Our teachers and staff members know the required standards and they work hard to discern the individual needs of their students.  Then they employ a wide variety of strategies that match our students’ needs with the required standards.  Beyond that, we’ve benefited from great leadership from our School board and our principals, and tremendous support from our parents and our community.”

  Community support for the school division runs high.  In a December 2005 random sample telephone survey conducted by the Virginia Tech Center for Survey Research, 92% of both parents and non-parent residents reported that they felt the school division was a “good” or “excellent” contributor to their sense of civic pride. (3.5% margin of error)

Alleghany’s success has not been confined to standardized test achievement.  Over the past five years, an average of 49 out of 210 eighth graders earned a high school Algebra I credit.  Of those, an average of 15 earned a high school geometry credit.  One hundred and sixty-three seventh and eighth graders earned a high school credit in French or Spanish last year.  Twenty-nine percent of seventh and eighth graders (138) are enrolled in high school French or Spanish courses this year.

Over 10% of the 208 members of Alleghany High School’s class of 2008 completed at least one full semester of college credit prior to their graduation.  Seventy-four of its 2008 graduates earned career and technical education seals on their diplomas, and 25 of them earned at least one dual enrollment credit in occupational-technical courses from Dabney S. Lancaster Community College.  With 93% of its 2007 graduates advancing to two- or four-year colleges and universities, Alleghany ranked third in Virginia.

In 2008, Alleghany received the Charles Edgar Clear Award from the Virginia Educational Research Association for its innovative efforts to involve employees and the public in decision-making and in educational program evaluation.  In May, 2006, Grimesey was recognized as Virginia's Region VI Superintendent of the Year by the Virginia Association of School Superintendents.  In February, 2005, he received the “Curriculum and Instructional Leadership Award” from the Virginia Children’s Engineering Convention.  In the fall of 2005, Alleghany received an award from the Blue Ridge Public Relations Association for its innovative design of teacher recruitment materials.  In November, 2004, Grimesey was named “State Administrator of the Year” by the Virginia Music Educators Association.

Prior to his arrival in  Alleghany County, Grimesey served from 1987 to 2001 in Rockingham County Public Schools as a middle school assistant principal, an elementary principal, a high school principal and as a division-level administrator.  He began his administrative career as assistant principal at King George Middle School in 1986.  Prior to becoming an administrator, Grimesey taught social studies and coached football and wrestling at Harrisonburg High School (1982-1984), and at Osbourn High School in Manassas City (1985-86).

Grimesey earned his Bachelor of Science degree in communication arts from James Madison University (JMU) in 1978 and his master’s degree in School Administration and Supervision from JMU in 1985.  He received his Doctor of Education degree in leadership and policy studies from the University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education in May, 1991.

Grimesey married the former Carol Y. Martin, in 1982, and they have resided in Alleghany County since 2001.  Their youngest daughter, Hannah, is a senior at Alleghany High School.  Both of the Grimeseys’ older children graduated from Alleghany High School.  Their son, John, serves in the United States Air Force.  He attended Virginia Tech where he was a member of the Corps of Cadets.  The Grimeseys’ other daughter, Sarah, is a third-year English major at the University of Virginia.