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If you had an hour of school board time for BELL CREEK MIDDLE, what would you bring up?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
903
Middle
DISTRICT 969 · STATE 750
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·HANOVER COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 510183000780
Bell Creek Middle
8021 Lee Davis Road, Mechanicsville, VA 23111 · (804) 723-2260 · Hanover County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL903 STUDENTS
B
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 58% of Virginia public middle schools
- B+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- B-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Virginia public middle schools
Student : Teacher
11.7:1
77 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.7:1 · STATE 13.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
40%
364 students
DISTRICT 40% · STATE 66%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other middle schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 254 | 28% |
| Grade 7 | 332 | 37% |
| Grade 8 | 317 | 35% |
Student demographics
48%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 48% · STATE 71% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
SOL 2024-25 . % PassingEnglish Language Arts
73.0%
VA avg 74.2% . +0.0pp since 2022
Math
79.0%
VA avg 72.7% . -3.0pp since 2022
What this means: On the SOL, Virginia's statewide test, about 73 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 79 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Virginia schools, those numbers are about 74 and 73. Reading and writing scores have held steady since 2022, while math scores are down about 3 points.
SOL results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 73.0% | 79.0% |
| 2023-24 | 72.0% | 77.0% |
| 2022-23 | 73.0% | 82.0% |
% Passing, all students and all tested grades.
Source: SOL. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
76.3%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
77.1%
based on VA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-0.9pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 76% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 77% typical for Virginia schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Virginia's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Bell Creek Middle
Bell Creek Middle's state test result (76.3% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bell Creek Middle this school | 903 | 40.3% | 76.3% |
| Andrew Lewis Middle Salem | 839 | 44.8% | 74.1% |
| Christiansburg Middle Christiansburg | 778 | 38.9% | 68.4% |
| Yorktown Middle Yorktown | 717 | 37.1% | 77.4% |
| Donald B. Dixon-Lyle R. Smith Middle Fredericksburg | 887 | 36.0% | 70.1% |
| Liberty Middle Ashland | 910 | 44.8% | 73.1% |
Matched among Virginia middle schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Bell Creek Middle ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Virginia |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 76.3% | #108 of 337 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 79.0% | #92 of 342 ▲ 15 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 73.0% | #168 of 342 ▼ 5 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 903 | #108 of 343 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 11.7:1 | #77 of 327 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 47.6% | #238 of 333 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 40.3% | #245 of 340 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -16.2% | #59 of 224 |
Ranked against other public middle schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
903
-126 (-12%) vs 2020
+5% since 1990-91, when it was 860
Student : Teacher
11.7:1
was 27.8:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 903 | 77.2 | 11.7:1 | 40% (364) |
| 2023-24 | 933 | 77.2 | 12.1:1 | 40% (376) |
| 2022-23 | 934 | 75.5 | 12.4:1 | 37% (343) |
| 2020-21 | 1,029 | 37 | 27.8:1 | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 1,078 | 76.9 | 14.0:1 | 24% (262) |
| 2015-16 | 1,101 | 76 | 14.5:1 | 21% (230) |
| 2010-11 | 1,146 | 64 | 17.9:1 | 17% (190) |
| 2000-01 | 1,295 | 88 | 14.7:1 | 8% (102) |
| 1990-91 | 860 | 62 | 13.9:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Bell Creek Middle.
Since 2017-18: students down 16% (1,078 to 903); teachers unchanged (76.9 to 77.2).
About Bell Creek Middle
Bell Creek Middle is a medium-sized middle school in Virginia, with an address in Mechanicsville. The school's 903 students are in grades 6 through 8. Statewide, middle schools in Virginia average about 750 students each.
Bell Creek Middle is one of the 24 schools that make up Hanover County Public Schools (17,434 students in total).
Bell Creek Middle's enrollment is 71% White. Other groups include 12% Black, 7% Hispanic, 6% multiracial, and 4% Asian. By comparison, Hanover County residents are about 82% White. By the diversity index, Bell Creek Middle comes in at 48%.
The school reports 77.2 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to about 11.7 students per teacher. The 13.1:1 average for middle schools in Virginia is higher than this school's figure. The free or reduced-price lunch share, often used to gauge student poverty, is 40%.
Bell Creek Middle is graded B by allk12, scoring above 58% of Virginia public middle schools once test results, poverty-adjusted performance, and the recent trend are combined.
Test results at Bell Creek Middle are within a point of what its free or reduced-price lunch share predicts (76.3% actual, 77.1% predicted).
In the county around the school, Hanover County, median household income is about $112,805, 43% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 4% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Bell Creek Middle is among the 26 public schools in Hanover County.
The closest other public school is Mechanicsville High, about 0.3 miles away. Around the school, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. In a group of 9 nearby schools with scores, Bell Creek Middle ranks 6th on average proficiency.
Bell Creek Middle is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more, a location NCES labels Suburb: Large.
From 2020-21 to 2024-25, Bell Creek Middle went from 1,029 students to 903. The ratio was 27.8:1 in 2020-21 and 11.7:1 in 2024-25.
Posts about sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater are welcome on this page. Reviews and ratings from people who know the school are welcome.
Hanover County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
112,879
Census ACS
Median income
$112,805
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
43%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
4%
Below federal line
Schools in county
26
17,434 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Hanover County Public Schools
- Atlee HighHigh · 1,470 students
- Hanover HighHigh · 1,349 students
- Patrick Henry HighHigh · 1,294 students
- Mechanicsville HighHigh · 1,245 students
- Chickahominy MiddleMiddle · 1,199 students
- Liberty MiddleMiddle · 910 students
Other schools in Mechanicsville
- Atlee HighHigh · 1,470 students
- Hanover HighHigh · 1,349 students
- Mechanicsville HighHigh · 1,245 students
- Chickahominy MiddleMiddle · 1,199 students
- Oak Knoll MiddleMiddle · 862 students
- Cool Spring ElementaryElementary · 852 students
Nearby schools
- Mechanicsville High0.3 mi · 1,245
- Laurel Meadow Elementary0.7 mi · 591
- Cold Harbor Elementary2.1 mi · 495
- Mechanicsville Elementary2.1 mi · 572
- Pole Green Elementary2.3 mi · 527
- Battlefield Park Elementary2.5 mi · 407
Frequently asked questions
About Bell Creek MiddleWhat is the total enrollment at Bell Creek Middle?
Bell Creek Middle enrolls approximately 903 students in grades 06-08.
Is Bell Creek Middle an elementary, middle, or high school?
Bell Creek Middle is a middle school covering grades 06-08.
How many students per teacher at Bell Creek Middle?
Approximately 11.7:1 students per teacher at Bell Creek Middle.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Bell Creek Middle?
At Bell Creek Middle, the student body is approximately 71% White, 7% Hispanic, 12% Black, 4% Asian, 6% Two or more.
What district is Bell Creek Middle in?
Bell Creek Middle is part of Hanover County Public Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.