Total enrollment
20,962
-7,263 (-26%) vs SY 2020-21
57 schools in Richmond City Public Schools
Virginia · 20,962 students · 1 city
Richmond City Public Schools in Virginia runs 57 public K-12 schools today, teaching roughly 20,962 students (an average of 368 per school).
4-year change in Richmond City Public Schools
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25School count
47
0 (0%) vs SY 2020-21
Source: NCES Common Core of Data, enrollment-weighted demographic averages
How Richmond City Public Schools ranks
Among districts| Measure | This district | In Virginia | In the US |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 49.7% | #116 of 117 | N/A |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 20,962 | #13 of 130 | #375 of 9,234 |
| Number of schools ranked most first | 47 | #7 of 130 | N/A |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 12.0:1 | #23 of 130 | #2,038 of 9,044 |
| Free or reduced-price lunch share ranked highest first | 98.8% | #9 of 115 | #351 of 8,164 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 59.2% | #46 of 114 | #1,734 of 6,853 |
Districts need at least 2 schools and 500 students to be ranked. Test proficiency is ranked within the state only, since each state gives a different test. Each rank links to the full list.
Inside Richmond City Public Schools
State test results across the district's 40 scored schools run from Open High at 96.8% proficient to George W. Carver Elementary at 18.9%, a gap of 77.9 points. That is the widest gap among 95 Virginia districts with four or more scored schools.
Since 2017-18, the 45 district schools that reported both years went from 24,470 to 20,350 students (down 17%) and from 1,507 to 1,682 full-time teachers (up 12%), as of 2024-25.
Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across each school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25; schools with fewer than 100 students and schools serving specialized populations are left out. Staffing figures come from the NCES Common Core of Data and count only schools that reported students and teachers in both years.
About Richmond City Public Schools
Richmond City Public Schools is a middle-population Virginia school district running 57 schools with combined enrollment near 20,962.
Looking at the level breakdown, Richmond City Public Schools comprises 39 elementary, 7 middle, 10 high schools, and 1 combined or other.
On a per-school basis, Richmond City Public Schools runs about 368 students per school, 45% noticeably below the state mean of roughly 672.
Five-year track record. Across the same 4-year window, public-school enrollment shrank 26%: 28,225 students in SY 2020-21 versus 20,962 in SY 2024-25.
In the discussion threads here, the community for Richmond City Public Schools discusses sports rivalries, cross-district programs, and shared facilities. Discussions cut across districts, schools, and grade levels.