Sandburg Middle

Set in Alexandria, Virginia, Sandburg Middle is a well-populated intermediate school, overseen by Fairfax County Public Schools. It instructs 1,401 students across grades 7 through 8. That puts it 87% above the typical public school in Virginia, which averages around 750 students.

Fairfax County Public Schools runs 199 schools in total, collectively educating 179,323 students. Sandburg Middle is one of those campuses.

On demographics, Sandburg Middle records that the largest single group is Hispanic at 40%, but no single group is in the majority; the rest breaks down as 31% White, 18% Black, 5% Asian, 5% multiracial. By comparison, Fairfax County as a whole is about 18% Hispanic, so the school skews noticeably more Hispanic than its surroundings.

On the resource side, Staff filings list 97 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 14.4:1 students per teacher. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 13.1:1, putting Sandburg Middle higher than the state norm the norm. Around 50% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. Set against Fairfax County (around 37%), the school's rate is meaningfully above typical.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Sandburg Middle performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 74.5%, the actual is 64.2%, a residual of -10.3 points.

In the surrounding community, community-level numbers for Fairfax County indicate median household earnings sit near $153,637, roughly 65% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 4%. Sandburg Middle is one of 222 public schools in Fairfax County (combined enrollment of about 174,475 students).

Stratford Landing Elementary is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.4 miles from this campus. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Sandburg Middle at 5th of 9; the average score across the group is 67.9%.

The campus sits in a commuter-belt setting.

Five-year trend. Sandburg Middle's enrollment has declined 9% since 2018, when it stood at 1,532 (now 1,401). Over the same period, the Hispanic share ticked up from 34% to 40%.

Within the allk12 community for this school, members of the Sandburg Middle community share and discuss school events, parent volunteer needs, and clubs. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to weigh in.