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Parents: what's one thing you'd want the SOUTH COUNTY MIDDLE administration to hear?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
943
Middle
DISTRICT 1,029 · STATE 750
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·FAIRFAX COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 510126002871
South County Middle
8700 Laurel Crest Dr., Lorton, VA 22079 · (703) 690-5500 · Fairfax County
GRADES 07–08MIDDLE21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL943 STUDENTS
B+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 73% of Virginia public middle schools
- A-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 middle schools
Student : Teacher
13.3:1
71 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.6:1 · STATE 13.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
23%
219 students
DISTRICT 39% · 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 7 | 453 | 48% |
| Grade 8 | 490 | 52% |
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
85.0%
VA avg 74.2% . +4.0pp since 2022
Math
88.0%
VA avg 72.7% . +8.0pp since 2022
What this means: On the SOL, Virginia's statewide test, about 85 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 up about 4 points since 2022, while math scores are up about 8 points.
SOL results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 85.0% | 88.0% |
| 2023-24 | 86.0% | 86.0% |
| 2022-23 | 81.0% | 80.0% |
% 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
83.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
81.8%
based on VA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+1.7pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 84% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 82% 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 South County Middle
South County Middle's state test result (83.5% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| South County Middle this school | 943 | 23.2% | 83.5% |
| E.H. Marsteller Middle Bristow | 1,153 | 23.9% | 85.5% |
| Dorothy Hamm Middle Arlington | 989 | 18.9% | 86.1% |
| Belmont Ridge Middle Leesburg | 1,071 | 21.6% | 84.1% |
| Gainesville Middle Gainesville | 1,403 | 24.5% | 84.8% |
| Rodney E. Thompson Middle Stafford | 1,063 | 24.6% | 84.9% |
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 South County Middle ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Virginia | In Fairfax County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 83.5% | #52 of 337 | #8 of 22 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 88.0% | #21 of 342 ▲ 6 | #4 of 23 ▲ 3 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 85.0% | #49 of 342 ▼ 17 | #10 of 23 ▼ 3 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 943 | #98 of 343 | #13 of 23 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 13.3:1 | #170 of 327 | #13 of 23 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 74.1% | #13 of 333 | #2 of 23 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 23.2% | #302 of 340 | #14 of 22 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -12.0% | #94 of 224 | #7 of 18 |
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
943
-109 (-10%) vs 2020
Student : Teacher
13.3:1
was 15.7:1
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 | 943 | 71 | 13.3:1 | 23% (219) |
| 2023-24 | 967 | 72.3 | 13.4:1 | 25% (238) |
| 2022-23 | 951 | 59.3 | 16.1:1 | 23% (218) |
| 2020-21 | 1,052 | 67 | 15.7:1 | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 1,072 | 73.3 | 14.6:1 | 21% (223) |
| 2015-16 | 1,044 | 70 | 14.9:1 | 18% (185) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for South County Middle.
Since 2017-18: students down 12% (1,072 to 943); teachers down 3% (73.3 to 71).
About South County Middle
South County Middle operates as a medium-sized middle-grades school in Lorton, Virginia. The school reports 943 students in grades 7 through 8. The typical figure for middle schools in Virginia is about 750 students.
South County Middle belongs to Fairfax County Public Schools, a district of 199 schools and 179,323 students.
By race and ethnicity, the largest group at South County Middle is White (41%). Other students are 19% Black, 16% Asian, 15% Hispanic, and 8% multiracial. That is lower than the 49% White share among all Fairfax County residents. By the diversity index, South County Middle comes in at 74%.
Its teaching staff equals 71 full-time positions, a ratio of 13.3:1. Middle schools in Virginia average about 13.1:1, a similar figure. Around 23% of the school's students qualify for free or reduced-price meals. The 37% average for public schools in Fairfax County is 14 points higher.
allk12 grades South County Middle a B+. The grade compares the school only with Virginia public middle schools, because each state gives its own test.
South County Middle's actual average proficiency rate on state tests (83.5%) and its predicted rate (81.8%) put it outside the top and bottom 10% of Virginia schools.
South County Middle is located in Fairfax County, where median household income is about $153,637, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 65%, and about 4% of people live in poverty. South County Middle is one of 222 public schools in Fairfax County, which together enroll about 174,475 students.
The next-closest public school is South County High, about 0.5 miles away. There are at least 8 more public schools inside five miles. South County Middle ranks 4th of 9 among nearby schools on average proficiency, with 83.5% against a local average of 77.7%.
Its location is classified as Suburb: Large by the National Center for Education Statistics.
Between 2020-21 and 2024-25, the student count dropped from 1,052 to 943. Over the same period, the student-to-teacher ratio fell to 13.3:1, from 15.7:1.
Threads on this page can be about enrollment questions, class placement, and PTA news. Alumni can share how the school prepared them.
Fairfax County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
1,147,837
Census ACS
Median income
$153,637
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
65%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
4%
Below federal line
Schools in county
222
174,475 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Fairfax County Public Schools
- Lake Braddock SecondaryHigh · 4,411 students
- Robinson SecondaryHigh · 3,710 students
- Hayfield SecondaryHigh · 3,256 students
- Chantilly HighHigh · 2,937 students
- West Springfield HighHigh · 2,799 students
- Westfield HighHigh · 2,737 students
Other schools in Lorton
- South County HighHigh · 2,106 students
- Lorton Station ElementaryElementary · 745 students
- Laurel Hill ElementaryElementary · 743 students
- Gunston ElementaryElementary · 530 students
Nearby schools
- South County High0.5 mi · 2,106
- Laurel Hill Elementary0.7 mi · 743
- Halley Elementary0.8 mi · 608
- Newington Forest Elementary1.2 mi · 579
- Silverbrook Elementary1.4 mi · 799
- Lorton Station Elementary1.8 mi · 745
Frequently asked questions
About South County MiddleHow many students attend South County Middle?
South County Middle enrolls approximately 943 students in grades 07-08.
What grades does South County Middle serve?
South County Middle serves grades 07-08.
How many teachers does South County Middle have?
South County Middle employs 71 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 13.3:1.
What is the racial breakdown of students at South County Middle?
At South County Middle, the student body is approximately 41% White, 15% Hispanic, 19% Black, 16% Asian, 8% Two or more.
What district is South County Middle in?
South County Middle is part of Fairfax County Public Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.