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What's the most underrated thing about MOUNT VERNON HIGH that outsiders don't know?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
1,858
High
DISTRICT 2,257 · STATE 1,213
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·FAIRFAX COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 510126000542
Mount Vernon High
8515 Old Mount Vernon Rd, Alexandria, VA 22309 · (703) 619-3100 · Fairfax County
GRADES 09–12HIGH21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL1,858 STUDENTS
F
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 2% of Virginia public high schools
- FTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- FBeats 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 high schools
Student : Teacher
10.4:1
178 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.1:1 · STATE 13.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
57%
1,060 students
DISTRICT 39% · STATE 66%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other high schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 9 | 476 | 26% |
| Grade 10 | 450 | 24% |
| Grade 11 | 442 | 24% |
| Grade 12 | 490 | 26% |
Student demographics
65%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 74% · 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
78.0%
VA avg 74.2% . +1.0pp since 2022
Math
66.0%
VA avg 72.7% . -9.0pp since 2022
What this means: On the SOL, Virginia's statewide test, about 78 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 66 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Virginia schools, those numbers are about 74 and 73. Reading and writing scores are up about 1 points since 2022, while math scores are down about 9 points.
SOL results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 78.0% | 66.0% |
| 2023-24 | 76.0% | 71.0% |
| 2022-23 | 77.0% | 75.0% |
% Passing, all students and all tested grades.
Source: SOL. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of VA schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
56.8%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
72.6%
based on VA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-15.8pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 57% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 73% typical for Virginia schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
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 Mount Vernon High
Mount Vernon High's state test result (56.8% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Vernon High this school | 1,858 | 57.1% | 56.8% |
| C.D. Hylton High Woodbridge | 1,859 | 68.3% | 71.5% |
| Wakefield High Arlington | 2,646 | 48.0% | 67.8% |
| Freedom High Woodbridge | 2,303 | 67.2% | 64.6% |
| Herndon High Herndon | 2,261 | 49.5% | 63.7% |
| West Potomac High Alexandria | 2,710 | 48.6% | 59.3% |
Matched among Virginia high 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 Mount Vernon High ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Virginia | In Fairfax County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 56.8% | #297 of 311 | #24 of 24 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 66.0% | #283 of 316 ▼ 22 | #24 of 24 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 78.0% | #250 of 316 ▲ 8 | #22 of 24 ▲ 1 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 1,858 | #74 of 325 | #23 of 27 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 10.4:1 | #26 of 309 | #1 of 25 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 64.9% | #99 of 309 | #15 of 25 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 57.1% | #198 of 319 | #6 of 26 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -10.8% | #74 of 178 | #3 of 15 |
Ranked against other public high 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
1,858
-155 (-8%) vs 2020
+20% since 1990-91, when it was 1,543
Student : Teacher
10.4:1
was 12.6:1
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 | 1,858 | 178.2 | 10.4:1 | 57% (1,060) |
| 2023-24 | 1,953 | 141 | 13.8:1 | 59% (1,157) |
| 2022-23 | 1,959 | 138.3 | 14.2:1 | 60% (1,171) |
| 2020-21 | 2,013 | 160 | 12.6:1 | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 2,083 | 157.2 | 13.3:1 | 53% (1,097) |
| 2015-16 | 2,017 | 158 | 12.8:1 | 49% (991) |
| 2010-11 | 1,779 | 102 | 17.4:1 | 45% (801) |
| 2000-01 | 1,764 | 131 | 13.5:1 | 36% (630) |
| 1990-91 | 1,543 | 101 | 15.3:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Mount Vernon High.
Since 2017-18: students down 11% (2,083 to 1,858); teachers up 13% (157.2 to 178.2).
About Mount Vernon High
Among the schools in Alexandria, Virginia, is Mount Vernon High, a large high school. The school enrolls 1,858 students, from grades 9 through 12. Average enrollment for high schools in Virginia is about 1,213, so this school runs 53% above that.
Fairfax County Public Schools includes 199 schools. Together they enroll 179,323 students.
Hispanic students are the majority at Mount Vernon High, with 52% of enrollment. After that, the student body is 21% Black, 17% White, 5% Asian, and 4% multiracial. Among all residents of Fairfax County, the Hispanic share is about 18%. Pick two students at random and there is a 65% chance they belong to different racial or ethnic groups; that figure is the school's diversity index.
The ratio of students to teachers is 10.4:1, with 178.2 full-time-equivalent teachers on staff. The school has fewer students per teacher than the 13.9:1 average for high schools in Virginia. Lunch subsidy eligibility at Mount Vernon High is 57%. The average for public schools in Fairfax County is 37%.
Measured against Virginia public high schools, Mount Vernon High receives an F. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
The school's average proficiency rate on state tests, 56.8%, is 15.8 points below the 72.6% the model predicts from its free or reduced-price lunch share. That result is in the bottom 10% of Virginia schools.
Census Bureau estimates for Fairfax County show that the median household income is $153,637, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 65% of adults, and the poverty rate is about 4%. There are 222 public schools in Fairfax County, enrolling about 174,475 students in all.
The closest public school to Mount Vernon High is Riverside Elementary, about 0.2 miles away. Counting only straight-line distance, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. Of 9 schools in the immediate area with test results, Mount Vernon High ranks 6th on average proficiency.
Locale: Suburb: Large. In NCES terms, the school is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
Enrollment has fallen by 155 students since 2020-21, to 1,858. By 2024-25, the school had 10.4 students per teacher, compared with 12.6 in 2020-21.
Posts about school events, clubs, and volunteer needs are welcome on this page. Reviews and ratings from people who know the school are welcome.
Fairfax County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
1,147,837
Census ACS
Median income
$153,637
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
65%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
4%
Below federal line
Schools in county
222
174,475 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Fairfax County Public Schools
- Lake Braddock SecondaryHigh · 4,411 students
- Robinson SecondaryHigh · 3,710 students
- Hayfield SecondaryHigh · 3,256 students
- Chantilly HighHigh · 2,937 students
- West Springfield HighHigh · 2,799 students
- Westfield HighHigh · 2,737 students
Other schools in Alexandria
- Alexandria City HighHigh · 4,655 students
- Hayfield SecondaryHigh · 3,256 students
- West Potomac HighHigh · 2,710 students
- Edison HighHigh · 2,294 students
- Thomas Jefferson High for Science and TechnologyHigh · 2,108 students
- Glasgow MiddleMiddle · 1,702 students
Other Mount Vernon High schools
7 other US public schools in 8 states are named Mount Vernon High. Mount Vernon High is the largest of the 8.
- Mount Vernon High SchoolMount Vernon, WA · 1,849 students
- Mount Vernon High SchoolMount Vernon, IL · 1,233 students
- MOUNT VERNON HIGH SCHOOLMOUNT VERNON, NY · 1,062 students
- Mount Vernon High SchoolMount Vernon, OH · 944 students
- Mount Vernon High SchoolMount Vernon, IN · 583 students
Nearby schools
- Riverside Elementary0.2 mi · 741
- Woodley Hills Elementary0.5 mi · 495
- Mount Vernon Woods Elementary1.2 mi · 507
- Stratford Landing Elementary1.3 mi · 669
- Washington Mill Elementary1.3 mi · 592
- Woodlawn Elementary1.4 mi · 447
Frequently asked questions
About Mount Vernon HighHow large is Mount Vernon High?
Mount Vernon High enrolls approximately 1,858 students in grades 09-12.
What age range does Mount Vernon High serve?
Mount Vernon High serves students from grade 09 through grade 12.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Mount Vernon High?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Mount Vernon High is approximately 10.4:1 (178 FTE teachers).
How diverse is Mount Vernon High?
Mount Vernon High reports a student body of 17% White, 52% Hispanic, 21% Black, 5% Asian, 4% Two or more.
Is Mount Vernon High public or private?
Mount Vernon High is a public K-12 school, overseen by Fairfax County Public Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.