1. Driver Education-101
Ms. Ponte

2. 2 Components of Driver Education
There are 2 components of Driver Education; both of which a student must pass in order to be eligible to receive their driver’s license before age 18. (If a student is 18 years or older hand has not previously held a driver’s license, he/she must show that they have passed a state-approved driver education program, and have held a leaner’s permit for at least 60 days before being eligible to take a DMV-administered road skills test).
Classroom Driver Education
In Car Driver Education (Behind the Wheel/Road and Range)

3. Classroom Driver Education
In Virginia, In-Class Driver Ed. is taught to each 10th grade student free of charge in their health & physical education class as a part of the health curriculum. The following requirements must be met:
• Student must maintain an average of 60 or above on driver education assignments.
• This grade is independent of what parents can see in Parent Portal, as the “report card” grade also factors in physical education.
• Student must achieve a score of 60 or above on a state-mandated Drug & Alcohol/Driving Awareness test.
• Student must not miss more than 4 periods of In-Class Driver Ed at SJHS.
Virginia law stipulates that students must receive a certain number of hours of In-Class Driver Ed. instruction. Students missing more than 4 periods will not obtain the minimum number of hours required for certification.
• For this requirement, there is no such thing as an “excused” absence. The state doesn’t care if a student was sick, at a funeral, etc; the “hours requirement” is extremely firm.

4. Classroom Driver Education (continued)
Parent and student both must attend a state-mandated Parent/Student Meeting during the year the student takes In-Class Driver Ed.
• May attend any meeting at any PWCS high school (Schedule will be posted on the class website, as well as at pwcs.edu) throughout the school year.

5. SJHS Driver Education Parent Meeting Dates
Wednesday, October 5, 7 pm
Wednesday, December 7, 7 pm
Wednesday, February 15, 7 pm
Wednesday, April 26, 7 pm
All meetings will take place in the auditorium. Doors will close 7 pm. No one will be permitted to enter after the doors close.
BOTH parent and child MUST attend!

6. Classroom Driver Education (continued)
When your student passes classroom driver education, they will receive a completion certificate from their teacher, which acts as their “ticket” to in-car driver education. PLEASE DO NOT LOSE THIS CARD, AS WE DO NOT REISSUE THESE CARDS ONCE THEY HAVE BEEN DISTRIBUTED.
This is as good as gold!!!!

7. In Car Driver Education
In-Car Driver Ed. certification may be obtained either through PWCS at SJHS or through a commercial driving academy. If taking In-Car at SJHS, students may take while they are in classroom driver ed. If taking through a commercial driving academy, it is ILLEGAL for students to pursue In-Car certification without having earned a completion certificate for In-Class Driver Ed.
It is highly recommended to seek In-Car certification at SJHS. There is a fee ($240), but the student will be in a familiar environment with familiar instructors committed to the student’s success.
The fee at a commercial driving academy may be less than PWCS’s fee; however, instructors are unfamiliar and may be more committed to factors other than student success.

8. The First Step…
…is for you to obtain a Learner’s Permit. Students are eligible to take the test for their Learner’s at the DMV after they are at least 15 years and 6 months old. You need not wait until your student has completed classroom driver education before taking him/her to the DMV to attempt the test: as long as he/she has reached 15 years and 6 months of age, he/she may go. Details of the documents required at the DMV are available through their website (dmv.state.va.us).Once your student has received their learner’s permit, he/she may begin driving under the supervision of a licensed immediate family member age 18+ or a licensed family friend age 21+. During this time, they may work to complete their 45 Hour Driving Log, which is required for licensure. Students must accumulate 45 total hours of guided practice driving, 15 of which must be after sunset.

9. The next step…
…once your student has completed all of the following steps:
obtained a learner’s permit and held it for at least 9 months
passed both parts of Driver Ed. (In-Class—which includes attending the Parent/Student Meeting--& In-Car),
completed a 45 Hour Driving Log (45 hours of guided practice, 15 nighttime hours)
…then your student is eligible to receive a Temporary Driver’s License (TDL). Your student will receive this from wherever they complete the In-Car “Behind the Wheel” portion of Driver Ed. So, if you seek that certification outside of SJHS, then would obtain your student’s TDL from there, not your child’s teacher.

10. TDL Facts!
The TDL is only a piece of paper and you must keep it with your learner’s permit in order to be valid.
The TDL is valid for 6 months, or 180 days.
Sometime within that 6 month period, you will receive a court date in the mail (It looks like a postcard.) to attend a licensing ceremony with your student at Juvenile & Domestic Relations Court (NOT the DMV). Please be sure both you and your student attend the ceremony.
At the end of the ceremony, the judge will present your student’s driver’s license to YOU, not your student. YOU decide when and if to allow your student to have his/her driver’s license.
It is perfectly within your parental rights to withhold the license from your student until you feel they are mature enough and skilled enough to handle all of the adult responsibilities that come with driving.
As the parent, you may always take your student’s license away from them—at any time and for any reason—until they reach age 18. If they refuse to hand it over to you, you may choose to have your student’s license suspended.

11. If you have any questions about the licensing process or about your specific situation, please aske.
You can always me at