Illustration of a purple colors star with text around it in a ciircle reading, "Virginia Distinguished Purple Star School. For Supporting Military Connected Students."

Eight Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) schools were named recipients of the 2024 Purple Star Award by the Virginia Department of Education and the Virginia Council on the Interstate Compact on  Educational Opportunity for Military Children. This award is presented to schools that demonstrate military-friendly practices and a commitment to military students and families. Across Virginia, 190 public and private schools were recognized as Purple Star schools. 

The LCPS schools named 2024 Purple Star schools are: 

  • Brambleton Middle School

  • Broad Run High School

  • Independence High School

  • John W. Tolbert Elementary School

  • Little River Elementary School

  • River Bend Middle School

  • Smart’s Mill Middle School 

  • Stone Bridge High School

Purple Star schools retain their designation for three years before having to reapply. This is the second time Brambleton and River Bend Middle Schools have been recognized as Purple Star schools. These two schools received their initial recognition in 2021. In addition to the schools above, 10 additional LCPS schools received the Purple Star designation in previous years.

  • Belmont Ridge Middle School 

  • Cardinal Ridge Elementary School 

  • J. Michael Lunsford Middle School  

  • Legacy Elementary School

  • Madison’s Trust Elementary School

  • Riverside High School

  • Rock Ridge High School

  • Stone Hill Middle School

  • Trailside Middle School

  • Willard Middle School 

The Virginia Council on the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children  is responsible for ushering in the Purple Star designation award program in the Commonwealth. The Council was created in 2009 to ensure that all matters related to the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children were managed with fidelity. The compact expresses the commitment of participating states to remove barriers to academic success for children of military families.Virginia was the second state, after Ohio, to establish the Purple Star school recognition. Today, 43 states have adopted the Purple Star School designation program.