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Portsmouth City Public Schools · High School · Grades Ungraded (alternative education center; secondary-focused)

New Directions Center

401 West Road, Portsmouth, VA 23707

Profile data: NCES & Virginia DOE (sources cited below). Rating: GreatSchools.org, April 2026. School boundaries can change — verify zoning with the district before relying on it.

At a glance

School district
Portsmouth City Public Schools
Grades served
Ungraded (alternative education center; secondary-focused)
School type
Other/alternative school
Principal
Horace Lambert (listed as school leader on GreatSchools; not independently verified on the official school site)
Classroom teachers
11 FTE
NCES school ID
510300001018

About New Directions Center

New Directions Center is the alternative education center of Portsmouth City Public Schools, located at 401 West Road in Portsmouth, Virginia. It serves students who benefit from a nontraditional setting, offering small classes, project-based and blended learning, online courses, and full, partial, and flex-day schedules that allow learners to balance school with jobs, family, and community obligations. Students receive remediation or acceleration as needed. The center's stated mission is to provide a safe, nurturing environment focused on the social, academic, intellectual, emotional, and physical development of each student.

As an ungraded alternative program with a small enrollment, the school is not assigned the standardized accountability metrics (SOL pass rates, graduation rate, accreditation rating) published for comprehensive schools; the Virginia School Quality Profile shows 'No Data' for its test-score and rating measures. Its student-services department has been recognized by the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) as a model program. The center sits in the Midtown/West Road section of Portsmouth, an independent city on the Elizabeth River in the Hampton Roads region of southeastern Virginia.

Contact

Phone
(757) 393-8728
Official school website ↗

Data sources

  • NCES Common Core of Data — School Detail — NCES School ID (510300001018), address, phone, locale (City-Small 13), school type (Other/alternative), 11.0 FTE teachers, open status; enrollment and grade span marked not availableDirectory 2025-2026; staffing 2024-2025 link ↗
  • Virginia School Quality Profiles — New Directions Center (via NeighborhoodScout mirror) & Portsmouth City division — Confirms No Data for ratings/SOL/test proficiency; alternative school in Portsmouth City division2023-2024 link ↗
  • Portsmouth Public Schools — New Directions program description — Mission, alternative-education program model (small classes, project/blended learning, flex schedules), ASCA model recognition2025-2026 link ↗
  • GreatSchools — New Directions Center — School leader name (Horace Lambert), phone, address, unrated/unclaimed statuscurrent (unrated) link ↗
  • NeighborhoodScout — New Directions Center — 2023-2024 school year reference, 'No Data' ratings, alternative/ungraded classification, Midtown location2023-2024 link ↗
  • SchoolDigger — New Directions Center — Alternative school classification, teacher count trend, district contextrecent link ↗

Figures reflect the NCES CCD directory 2025-2026; enrollment/staffing 2024-2025; Virginia School Quality Profile reflects 2023-2024 (no ratings/test data reported) unless noted. School zoning, boundaries, and ratings change — verify with the school division before making housing decisions.

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