Potomac Shores Middle

Potomac Shores Middle is a middle-grades school of heavily attended scale in Dumfries, Virginia, part of Prince William County Public Schools, serveing 1,229 students in grades 6 through 8. That puts it 64% larger than the typical public school in Virginia, which averages around 750 students.

Across the 95 schools in Prince William County Public Schools (90,242 students total), Potomac Shores Middle accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

In terms of who attends, Potomac Shores Middle logs that the largest single group is Black at 46%, but no single group is in the majority. Other groups include 21% Hispanic, 17% White, 9% Asian, 6% multiracial. That is noticeably more Black than the county at large, where the share is closer to 20%.

On the income-and-resources front, The school lists 77 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 15.9:1. That figure is higher than the state norm's 13.1:1 average. Around 70% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. Set against Prince William County (around 55%), the school's rate is noticeably above typical.

After controlling for student poverty, Potomac Shores Middle performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 69.1%, the actual is 70.0%, a residual of +0.9 points.

Zooming out to the county, Prince William County reports that the typical household earns roughly $131,402 per year, 45% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 5%. Potomac Shores Middle is one of 102 public schools in Prince William County (combined enrollment of about 89,591 students).

Nearest neighbor: Covington-Harper Elementary, around 0.6 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Potomac Shores Middle. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Potomac Shores Middle at 4th of 9; the average score across the group is 64.8%.

The school occupies a residential site.

On this page, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.