S. Gordon Stewart Middle

As a close-knit middle-grades school in Fort Defiance, Virginia, S. Gordon Stewart Middle educates 516 students from grades 6 through 8, overseen by Augusta County Public Schools. Compared to the state average of about 750 students per school, that is 31% below typical.

Augusta County Public Schools runs 20 schools in total, collectively educating 10,742 students. S. Gordon Stewart Middle is one of those campuses.

On demographics, S. Gordon Stewart Middle lists that 81% of students identify as White, making the school strongly White-majority; the rest breaks down as 13% Hispanic, 4% multiracial. That is noticeably less White than the county at large, where the share is closer to 89%.

On the income-and-resources front, Staff filings list 39 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 13.2:1 students per teacher. The state averages about 13.1:1, putting this campus right in line with peers. An estimated 69% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator.

After controlling for student poverty, S. Gordon Stewart Middle tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 69.4% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 63.0%.

In the broader community, Augusta County reports that the typical household earns roughly $82,049 per year, about 25% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 5%. Across Augusta County's 25 public schools (combined enrollment of about 10,742 students), S. Gordon Stewart Middle is one campus in the mix.

The closest other public school is Edward G. Clymore Elementary, roughly 0.2 miles away. 2 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. On composite proficiency, S. Gordon Stewart Middle comes 4th of 6 in the immediate cluster, behind the nearby-schools average of 73.7%.

S. Gordon Stewart Middle operates from a small-town location.

Looking at the recent track record. S. Gordon Stewart Middle's enrollment has fell 3% since 2018, when it stood at 531 (now 516). White enrollment moved from 88% to 81% across the same window. Class-load math has widened: from 12.0:1 in 2018 to 13.2:1 in 2025.

On allk12, recent activity here tends to focus on enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. The community welcomes input from current and former families.