"In January 2022, in the first days of Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s term, he gathered college leaders at the Capitol to announce a plan to open laboratory schools across the state.

Two years later, the state’s first lab school has opened quietly at Virginia Commonwealth University. Instead of creating a new school, leaders repositioned one that already existed — a regional high school in Richmond focused on computer science called CodeRVA. The state approved the lab school in July, and the partnership began in October.

On Wednesday, Youngkin gathered with education leaders and CodeRVA students at VCU to celebrate the lab school, called VCU x CodeRVA.

'What you represent is what we all know Virginia needs,' Youngkin told the students. 'And that is true believers in the future of technology and how it can be advanced and explored and applied.'

Similar to charter schools, lab schools are K-12 public schools with the independence to set their own curriculum and budget. They don’t charge tuition and are open to the public, and each is aligned with a college or university.

Lab schools are another option for parents who don’t want to send their student to a struggling school system, Youngkin has said. Plus, universities get first-hand experience learning the best ways to educate students, which they can then teach," reports Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Photo: Gov. Glenn Youngkin, VCU president Michael Rao and others cut a ceremonial ribbon to celebrate the launch of the lab school VCU x CodeRVA.  Kevin Morley, VCU