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Does POTOMAC MIDDLE have enough mental health and stress support?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
931
Middle
DISTRICT 1,150 · STATE 750
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 510313002584
Potomac Middle
3130 Panther Pride Drive, Dumfries, VA 22026 · (703) 221-4996 · Prince William County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL931 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
12.9:1
72 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 14.6:1 · STATE 13.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
70%
650 students
DISTRICT 57% · 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 | 302 | 32% |
| Grade 7 | 338 | 36% |
| Grade 8 | 291 | 31% |
Student demographics
74%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
64.0%
VA avg 74.2% . -2.0pp since 2022
Math
53.0%
VA avg 72.7% . +5.0pp since 2022
What this means: On the SOL, Virginia's statewide test, about 64 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 53 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 2 points since 2022, while math scores are up about 5 points.
SOL results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 64.0% | 53.0% |
| 2023-24 | 64.0% | 47.0% |
| 2022-23 | 66.0% | 48.0% |
% 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
63.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
69.1%
based on VA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-6.0pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 63% 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 Potomac Middle
Potomac Middle's state test result (63.1% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Potomac Middle this school | 931 | 69.8% | 63.1% |
| Woodbridge Middle Woodbridge | 873 | 69.5% | 66.1% |
| Graham Park Middle Triangle | 713 | 68.9% | 65.4% |
| Rippon Middle Woodbridge | 1,200 | 69.3% | 62.5% |
| Holmes Middle Alexandria | 881 | 72.0% | 56.2% |
| Herbert J. Saunders Middle Manassas | 1,198 | 69.5% | 80.0% |
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 Potomac Middle ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Virginia | In Prince William County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 63.1% | #220 of 337 | #12 of 17 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 53.0% | #287 of 342 ▲ 17 | #15 of 17 ▲ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 64.0% | #251 of 342 ▼ 21 | #15 of 17 ▼ 3 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 931 | #103 of 343 | #14 of 17 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 12.9:1 | #147 of 327 | #3 of 17 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 73.5% | #18 of 333 | #3 of 17 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 69.8% | #178 of 340 | #1 of 17 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -26.2% | #14 of 224 | #3 of 11 |
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
931
-284 (-23%) vs 2020
-15% since 2010-11, when it was 1,100
Student : Teacher
12.9:1
was 15.2:1
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 | 931 | 72.1 | 12.9:1 | 70% (650) |
| 2023-24 | 984 | 72.2 | 13.6:1 | 68% (666) |
| 2022-23 | 919 | 63.3 | 14.5:1 | 67% (618) |
| 2020-21 | 1,215 | 80 | 15.2:1 | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 1,261 | 81.7 | 15.4:1 | 55% (699) |
| 2015-16 | 1,193 | 74 | 16.1:1 | 53% (627) |
| 2010-11 | 1,100 | 54 | 20.4:1 | 44% (489) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Potomac Middle.
Since 2017-18: students down 26% (1,261 to 931); teachers down 12% (81.7 to 72.1).
About Potomac Middle
Potomac Middle is a mid-sized middle school in Prince William County Public Schools, located in Dumfries, Virginia. It offers grades 6 through 8 and has 931 students enrolled. It has 24% more students than the average for middle schools in Virginia (about 750).
Enrollment across the 95 schools in Prince William County Public Schools totals 90,242 students.
Hispanic students account for 36% of enrollment at Potomac Middle, more than any other group. Other students are 31% Black, 14% Asian, 11% White, and 7% multiracial. By comparison, Prince William County residents are about 26% Hispanic. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, Potomac Middle scores 74%.
The school had 72.1 full-time-equivalent teachers in 2024-25. Its student-to-teacher ratio is 12.9:1. The ratio is within a point of the 13.1:1 average for middle schools in Virginia. The eligibility rate for free or reduced-price meals is 70%. Among public schools in Prince William County, the average eligibility rate is 55%.
On a poverty-adjusted basis, Potomac Middle falls in the middle 80% of Virginia schools: 63.1% actual against 69.1% predicted.
In Prince William County, home to about 488,880 people, the median household earns about $131,402 a year, roughly 45% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 5%. Potomac Middle shares Prince William County with 101 other public schools.
Of the public schools around it, Potomac Middle is closest to Mary Williams Elementary, about 0.2 miles away. Potomac Middle has at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Local comparison: Potomac Middle ranks 7th of 9 nearby schools, at 63.1% versus a 68.1% average.
Locale data from NCES put Potomac Middle in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more (Suburb: Large).
A 23% decrease took enrollment from 1,215 in 2020-21 to 931 in 2024-25. The student-to-teacher ratio went down from 15.2:1 to 12.9:1.
On allk12, people connected to Potomac Middle can post about pickup and drop-off, after-school programs, and teacher feedback. Members of the school community can share what they know.
Prince William County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
488,880
Census ACS
Median income
$131,402
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
45%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
102
89,591 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Prince William County Public Schools
- Charles J. Colgan Sr. HighHigh · 2,956 students
- Woodbridge HighHigh · 2,898 students
- Osbourn Park HighHigh · 2,661 students
- Gainesville HighHigh · 2,648 students
- Gar-Field HighHigh · 2,524 students
- Forest Park HighHigh · 2,343 students
Other schools in Dumfries
- Potomac HighHigh · 2,197 students
- Potomac Shores MiddleMiddle · 1,229 students
- Covington-Harper ElementaryElementary · 1,025 students
- John F. Pattie Sr. ElementaryElementary · 906 students
- A. Henderson ElementaryElementary · 815 students
- Mary Williams ElementaryElementary · 669 students
Other Potomac Middle schools
One other US public school is named Potomac Middle. Potomac Middle is the largest of the 2.
- Potomac Middle SchoolBonner, MT · 27 students
Nearby schools
- Mary Williams Elementary0.2 mi · 669
- Potomac High0.3 mi · 2,197
- River Oaks Elementary0.9 mi · 662
- Leesylvania Elementary1.5 mi · 759
- Fannie W. Fitzgerald Elementary1.7 mi · 829
- Covington-Harper Elementary1.8 mi · 1,025
Frequently asked questions
About Potomac MiddleHow many students attend Potomac Middle?
Potomac Middle enrolls approximately 931 students in grades 06-08.
Is Potomac Middle an elementary, middle, or high school?
Potomac Middle is a middle school covering grades 06-08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Potomac Middle?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Potomac Middle is approximately 12.9:1 (72 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Potomac Middle?
At Potomac Middle, the student body is approximately 11% White, 36% Hispanic, 31% Black, 14% Asian, 7% Two or more.
Who oversees Potomac Middle?
Potomac Middle is overseen by Prince William County Public Schools in Prince William County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.