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If you could change one rule at NELSON COUNTY HIGH, what would it be?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
486
High
DISTRICT 373 · STATE 1,213
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·NELSON COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 510258001032
Nelson County High
6919 Thomas Nelson Hwy, Lovingston, VA 22949 · (434) 263-8317 · Nelson County
GRADES 09–12HIGH42-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL486 STUDENTS
A-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 80% of Virginia public high schools
- B+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- ABeats 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
10.5:1
46 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 11.9:1 · STATE 13.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
83%
405 students
DISTRICT 85% · 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 | 126 | 26% |
| Grade 10 | 132 | 27% |
| Grade 11 | 109 | 22% |
| Grade 12 | 119 | 24% |
Student demographics
48%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 49% · 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
School pathway
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within Nelson County Public Schools. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
SOL 2024-25 . % PassingEnglish Language Arts
88.0%
VA avg 74.2% . -1.0pp since 2022
Math
91.0%
VA avg 72.7% . -1.0pp since 2022
What this means: On the SOL, Virginia's statewide test, about 88 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 91 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Virginia schools, those numbers are about 74 and 73. Reading and writing scores are down about 1 points since 2022, while math scores are down about 1 points.
SOL results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 88.0% | 91.0% |
| 2023-24 | 82.0% | 94.0% |
| 2022-23 | 89.0% | 92.0% |
% Passing, all students and all tested grades.
Source: SOL. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of VA schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
79.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
65.4%
based on VA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+14.1pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 80% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 65% typical for Virginia schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations ranks schools against others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school can post high scores and still fall short of its prediction, or post lower scores and still beat it. This school clears its prediction by about 14 points, placing it in Virginia's top 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 Nelson County High
Nelson County High's state test result (79.5% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nelson County High this school | 486 | 83.3% | 79.5% |
| Amelia County High Amelia Court House | 516 | 82.9% | 67.0% |
| Rappahannock High Warsaw | 544 | 86.4% | 72.6% |
| Tunstall High Dry Fork | 800 | 85.9% | 88.1% |
| Strasburg High Strasburg | 614 | 83.4% | 77.0% |
| Staunton High Staunton | 766 | 85.0% | 77.9% |
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 Nelson County High ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Virginia |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 79.5% | #99 of 311 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 91.0% | #73 of 316 ▼ 50 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 88.0% | #124 of 316 ▲ 68 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 486 | #257 of 325 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 10.5:1 | #29 of 309 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 48.2% | #195 of 309 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 83.3% | #114 of 319 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -23.6% | #13 of 178 |
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
486
-84 (-15%) vs 2020
-16% since 1990-91, when it was 581
Student : Teacher
10.5:1
was 12.1:1
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 | 486 | 46.4 | 10.5:1 | 83% (405) |
| 2023-24 | 485 | 45.5 | 10.7:1 | 83% (401) |
| 2022-23 | 517 | 46.3 | 11.2:1 | 70% (362) |
| 2020-21 | 570 | 47 | 12.1:1 | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 636 | 48.2 | 13.2:1 | 50% (321) |
| 2015-16 | 643 | 46 | 14.0:1 | 44% (284) |
| 2010-11 | 580 | 38 | 15.3:1 | 40% (234) |
| 2000-01 | 722 | 56 | 12.9:1 | 24% (173) |
| 1990-91 | 581 | 46 | 12.6:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Nelson County High.
Since 2017-18: students down 24% (636 to 486); teachers down 4% (48.2 to 46.4).
About Nelson County High
In Lovingston, Virginia, Nelson County High is a low-enrollment high school. It offers grades 9 through 12 and has 486 students enrolled. It has 60% fewer students than the average for high schools in Virginia (about 1,213).
Nelson County Public Schools (4 schools, 1,492 students) runs Nelson County High.
At Nelson County High, 70% of students are White. The school is also 14% Black, 11% Hispanic, and 5% multiracial. That is lower than the 81% White share among all Nelson County residents. The diversity index for Nelson County High is 48%. For US public schools as a whole it is 70%.
With 46.4 full-time-equivalent teachers, the student-to-teacher ratio is about 10.5:1. High schools in Virginia have an average ratio of 13.9:1. Student poverty is often measured by lunch eligibility; at Nelson County High, 83% qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Public schools in Nelson County average a similar 85%.
On the allk12 Grade, Nelson County High lands at A-, ahead of 80% of Virginia public high schools.
Nelson County High outperforms its prediction by 14.1 points. The model expects 65.4% for a school with its free or reduced-price lunch share in Virginia; the school's rate is 79.5%.
Five-year Census Bureau estimates for Nelson County show that the median household earns about $72,589 a year, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 36%, and about 8% of people live in poverty. Nelson County has 4 public schools with about 1,492 students, including Nelson County High.
Of the public schools around it, Nelson County High is closest to Nelson Middle, about 0.1 miles away. Nelson County High has 2 other public schools within five miles. Nelson County High ranks 2nd of 9 among nearby schools on average proficiency, with 79.5% against a local average of 69.6%.
The National Center for Education Statistics classifies the school's location as Rural: Distant, meaning it is in rural territory some distance from an urban area.
From 570 students in 2020-21, enrollment fell to 486 by 2024-25. From 2020-21 to 2024-25, the ratio dropped from 12.1:1 to 10.5:1.
This page is a place to ask questions and share updates about fundraisers, report cards, and school supplies at Nelson County High. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to post.
Nelson County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
14,732
Census ACS
Median income
$72,589
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
36%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
8%
Below federal line
Schools in county
4
1,492 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Nelson County Public Schools
- Tye River ElementaryElementary · 360 students
- Nelson MiddleMiddle · 328 students
- Rockfish River ElementaryElementary · 318 students
Other Nelson County High schools
One other US public school is named Nelson County High. Nelson County High is the 2nd largest of the 2.
- Nelson County High SchoolBardstown, KY · 756 students
Nearby schools
- Nelson Middle0.1 mi · 328
- Tye River Elementary1.8 mi · 360
- Temperance Elementary10.5 mi · 93
- Amherst Elementary12.9 mi · 307
- Amherst Middle13.5 mi · 371
- Central Elementary13.6 mi · 268
Frequently asked questions
About Nelson County HighWhat is the total enrollment at Nelson County High?
Nelson County High enrolls approximately 486 students in grades 09-12.
What age range does Nelson County High serve?
Nelson County High serves students from grade 09 through grade 12.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Nelson County High?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Nelson County High is approximately 10.5:1 (46 FTE teachers).
How diverse is Nelson County High?
Nelson County High reports a student body of 70% White, 11% Hispanic, 14% Black, 0% Asian, 5% Two or more.
Who oversees Nelson County High?
Nelson County High is overseen by Nelson County Public Schools in Nelson County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.