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What's the most underrated thing about Oscar F. Smith High that outsiders don't know?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
2,264
High
DISTRICT 1,880 · STATE 1,213
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CHESAPEAKE CITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 510081000303
Oscar F. Smith High
1994 Tiger Dr, Chesapeake, VA 23320 · (757) 548-0696 · Chesapeake city
GRADES 09–12HIGH11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL2,264 STUDENTS
B-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 51% 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.
- BBeats 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
12.7:1
178 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.7:1 · STATE 13.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
71%
1,617 students
DISTRICT 53% · 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 | 606 | 27% |
| Grade 10 | 588 | 26% |
| Grade 11 | 553 | 24% |
| Grade 12 | 517 | 23% |
Student demographics
64%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 70% · 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
80.0%
VA avg 74.2% . -1.0pp since 2022
Math
88.0%
VA avg 72.7% . +3.0pp since 2022
What this means: On the SOL, Virginia's statewide test, about 80 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 88 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 up about 3 points.
SOL results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 80.0% | 88.0% |
| 2023-24 | 78.0% | 89.0% |
| 2022-23 | 81.0% | 85.0% |
% 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
73.8%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
68.7%
based on VA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+5.1pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 74% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 69% 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 Oscar F. Smith High
Oscar F. Smith High's state test result (73.8% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oscar F. Smith High this school | 2,264 | 71.4% | 73.8% |
| Indian River High Chesapeake | 1,634 | 72.6% | 75.5% |
| Nansemond River High Suffolk | 1,683 | 68.9% | 77.8% |
| Bayside High Virginia Beach | 1,984 | 82.7% | 81.9% |
| Thomas Dale High Chester | 2,582 | 74.2% | 70.6% |
| Green Run High Virginia Beach | 1,465 | 81.8% | 75.8% |
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 Oscar F. Smith High ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Virginia | In Chesapeake city |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 73.8% | #164 of 311 | #7 of 7 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 88.0% | #97 of 316 ▼ 21 | #5 of 7 ▼ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 80.0% | #225 of 316 ▲ 5 | #7 of 7 no change |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 2,264 | #31 of 325 | #2 of 7 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 12.7:1 | #91 of 309 | #2 of 7 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 64.0% | #107 of 309 | #5 of 7 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 71.4% | #163 of 319 | #4 of 7 |
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
2,264
-11 (0%) vs 2020
+165% since 1990-91, when it was 854
Student : Teacher
12.7:1
was 14.2:1
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 | 2,264 | 178 | 12.7:1 | 71% (1,617) |
| 2023-24 | 2,313 | 164.1 | 14.1:1 | 81% (1,880) |
| 2022-23 | 2,291 | 164.3 | 13.9:1 | 70% (1,610) |
| 2020-21 | 2,275 | 160 | 14.2:1 | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 2,265 | 166.5 | 13.6:1 | 59% (1,331) |
| 2015-16 | 2,252 | 152 | 14.8:1 | 44% (999) |
| 2010-11 | 2,177 | 123 | 17.7:1 | 47% (1,033) |
| 2000-01 | 1,799 | 132 | 13.6:1 | 31% (559) |
| 1990-91 | 854 | 54 | 15.8:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Oscar F. Smith High.
Since 2017-18: students unchanged (2,265 to 2,264); teachers up 7% (166.5 to 178).
About Oscar F. Smith High
Oscar F. Smith High is listed by the National Center for Education Statistics as a high school in Chesapeake, Virginia. The school runs grades 9 through 12 and enrolls 2,264 students. High schools in Virginia have about 1,213 students on average; enrollment here is 87% higher.
Chesapeake City Public Schools counts 40,607 students in its 45 schools, and Oscar F. Smith High is one of them.
The share of Black students at Oscar F. Smith High is 54%, a majority. The school is also 18% Hispanic, 17% White, 8% multiracial, and 2% Asian. That is higher than the 29% Black share among all Chesapeake city residents. Its diversity index, the chance that two randomly chosen students belong to different racial or ethnic groups, is 64%.
The school's 178 full-time-equivalent teachers translate to a student-to-teacher ratio of 12.7:1. The average for high schools in Virginia is 13.9:1, so this school has fewer students per teacher. At Oscar F. Smith High, 71% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch in 2024-25. For comparison, public schools in Chesapeake city average 49%.
Oscar F. Smith High holds a B- allk12 Grade, placing it above 51% of Virginia public high schools.
Test results at Oscar F. Smith High are 5.1 points above what its free or reduced-price lunch share predicts (73.8% actual, 68.7% predicted).
Looking at the county, Chesapeake city, the median household earns about $95,373 a year, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 37%, and roughly 7% of residents are in poverty. Chesapeake city has 50 public schools with about 40,607 students, including Oscar F. Smith High.
B.M. Williams Primary, about 1.3 miles away, is the closest public school. A five-mile radius around the school includes at least 8 other public schools. Of the 6 nearby schools with scores, including this one, Oscar F. Smith High is 4th on average proficiency.
NCES lists the school's locale as City: Large. That means it sits inside a principal city with a population of 250,000 or more.
There was little change in enrollment from 2020-21 (2,275) to 2024-25 (2,264). The school's ratio dropped from 14.2:1 to 12.7:1 between 2020-21 and 2024-25.
Anyone can start a thread about athletics, class schedules, and weather closures at Oscar F. Smith High. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
Chesapeake city at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
252,583
Census ACS
Median income
$95,373
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
37%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
50
40,607 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Chesapeake City Public Schools
- Grassfield HighHigh · 2,345 students
- Western Branch HighHigh · 2,138 students
- Deep Creek HighHigh · 1,691 students
- Indian River HighHigh · 1,634 students
- Hickory HighHigh · 1,600 students
- Great Bridge HighHigh · 1,491 students
Other schools in Chesapeake
- Grassfield HighHigh · 2,345 students
- Western Branch HighHigh · 2,138 students
- Deep Creek HighHigh · 1,691 students
- Indian River HighHigh · 1,634 students
- Hickory HighHigh · 1,600 students
- Great Bridge HighHigh · 1,491 students
Nearby schools
- B.M. Williams Primary1.3 mi · 825
- Great Bridge Primary1.7 mi · 610
- Crestwood Intermediate1.9 mi · 736
- Greenbrier Middle2.1 mi · 788
- Crestwood Middle2.2 mi · 557
- Great Bridge Middle2.5 mi · 1,309
Frequently asked questions
About Oscar F. Smith HighHow many students attend Oscar F. Smith High?
Oscar F. Smith High enrolls approximately 2,264 students in grades 09-12.
Is Oscar F. Smith High an elementary, middle, or high school?
Oscar F. Smith High is a high school covering grades 09-12.
How many students per teacher at Oscar F. Smith High?
Approximately 12.7:1 students per teacher at Oscar F. Smith High.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Oscar F. Smith High?
At Oscar F. Smith High, the student body is approximately 17% White, 18% Hispanic, 54% Black, 2% Asian, 8% Two or more.
Who oversees Oscar F. Smith High?
Oscar F. Smith High is overseen by Chesapeake City Public Schools in Chesapeake city.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.