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Alumni: what's one memory from STERLING MIDDLE that still sticks with you?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
967
Middle
DISTRICT 1,057 · STATE 750
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·LOUDOUN COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 510225000933
Sterling Middle
201 W Holly Ave, Sterling, VA 20164 · (571) 434-4520 · Loudoun County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL967 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
10.3:1
94 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.0:1 · STATE 13.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
85%
818 students
DISTRICT 31% · 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 | 310 | 32% |
| Grade 7 | 326 | 34% |
| Grade 8 | 331 | 34% |
Student demographics
40%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 73% · 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
46.0%
VA avg 74.2% . -4.0pp since 2022
Math
38.0%
VA avg 72.7% . +1.0pp since 2022
What this means: On the SOL, Virginia's statewide test, about 46 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 38 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 4 points since 2022, while math scores are up about 1 points.
SOL results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 46.0% | 38.0% |
| 2023-24 | 44.0% | 35.0% |
| 2022-23 | 50.0% | 37.0% |
% Passing, all students and all tested grades.
Source: SOL. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of VA schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
46.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
65.1%
based on VA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-19.1pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 46% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 65% typical for Virginia schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
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 Sterling Middle
Sterling Middle's state test result (46.0% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sterling Middle this school | 967 | 84.6% | 46.0% |
| Manassas Park Middle Manassas Park | 753 | 81.4% | 58.6% |
| Mayfield Intermediate Manassas | 839 | 78.8% | 59.8% |
| Poe Middle Annandale | 879 | 76.8% | 48.5% |
| Grace E. Metz Middle Manassas | 1,111 | 77.8% | 47.8% |
| Unity Braxton Middle Manassas | 1,055 | 69.2% | 57.9% |
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 Sterling Middle ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Virginia | In Loudoun County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 46.0% | #322 of 337 | #17 of 17 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 38.0% | #326 of 342 ▲ 5 | #18 of 18 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 46.0% | #330 of 342 ▲ 1 | #18 of 18 no change |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 967 | #92 of 343 | #12 of 18 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 10.3:1 | #21 of 327 | #1 of 18 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 40.0% | #276 of 333 | #18 of 18 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 84.6% | #113 of 340 | #1 of 18 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -4.4% | #188 of 224 | #12 of 13 |
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
967
-155 (-14%) vs 2020
+11% since 1990-91, when it was 868
Student : Teacher
10.3:1
was 9.3:1
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 | 967 | 94.4 | 10.3:1 | 85% (818) |
| 2023-24 | 947 | 99.9 | 9.5:1 | 83% (785) |
| 2022-23 | 1,037 | 96 | 10.8:1 | 83% (863) |
| 2020-21 | 1,122 | 120 | 9.3:1 | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 1,011 | 92.4 | 10.9:1 | 67% (674) |
| 2015-16 | 997 | 90 | 11.1:1 | 66% (655) |
| 2010-11 | 859 | 60 | 14.3:1 | 56% (485) |
| 2000-01 | 1,168 | 86 | 13.6:1 | 15% (172) |
| 1990-91 | 868 | 59 | 14.7:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Sterling Middle.
Since 2017-18: students down 4% (1,011 to 967); teachers up 2% (92.4 to 94.4).
About Sterling Middle
The public middle school Sterling Middle is located in Sterling, Virginia. The school counted 967 students in 2024-25, covering grades 6 through 8. That puts enrollment 29% larger than the 750-student average for middle schools in Virginia.
The district, Loudoun County Public Schools, has 81,486 students enrolled across 98 schools.
The share of Hispanic students at Sterling Middle is 76%, a majority. The school is also 8% Asian, 8% White, and 5% Black. That is higher than the 14% Hispanic share among all Loudoun County residents. A diversity index of 40% means there is a 40% chance two randomly chosen students at Sterling Middle are from different groups.
Teacher count: 94.4 full-time equivalents. Student-to-teacher ratio: 10.3:1. Across middle schools in Virginia, the average ratio is 13.1:1. Roughly 85% of students come from households that qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The 28% average for public schools in Loudoun County is 57 points lower.
Sterling Middle is in the bottom 10% of Virginia schools on the allk12 BeatsExpectations measure. Based on its free or reduced-price lunch share, the model predicts an average proficiency rate across its state test results of 65.1%. The school's actual rate is 46.0%, 19.1 points lower.
For Loudoun County, Census Bureau data show the median household earns about $181,765 a year, roughly 65% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 3% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Counting Sterling Middle, Loudoun County has 103 public schools.
The closest school to Sterling Middle is Sully Elementary, located about 0.5 miles away. Sterling Middle is one of several public schools in the area, with at least 8 others within five miles. Sterling Middle ranks 7th of 9 among nearby schools on average proficiency, with 46.0% against a local average of 58.4%.
The school's federal locale classification is Suburb: Large.
In 2020-21, Sterling Middle enrolled 1,122 students. By 2024-25, that number had fallen to 967.
Anyone can start a thread about athletics, class schedules, and weather closures at Sterling Middle. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
Loudoun County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
432,998
Census ACS
Median income
$181,765
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
65%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
3%
Below federal line
Schools in county
103
81,486 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Loudoun County Public Schools
- Independence HighHigh · 2,166 students
- Lightridge HighHigh · 2,030 students
- Freedom HighHigh · 1,885 students
- Briar Woods HighHigh · 1,862 students
- John Champe HighHigh · 1,851 students
- Riverside HighHigh · 1,710 students
Other schools in Sterling
- Dominion HighCombined · 1,453 students
- Park View HighHigh · 1,409 students
- River Bend MiddleMiddle · 1,137 students
- Seneca Ridge MiddleMiddle · 862 students
- Elaine E. Thompson ElementaryElementary · 756 students
- Countryside ElementaryElementary · 648 students
Other Sterling Middle schools
2 other US public schools in 3 states are named Sterling Middle. Sterling Middle is the largest of the 3.
- Sterling Middle SchoolSTERLING, CO · 397 students
- Sterling Middle SchoolPeoria, IL · 374 students
Nearby schools
- Sully Elementary0.5 mi · 476
- Guilford Elementary0.5 mi · 504
- Sterling Elementary0.6 mi · 430
- Forest Grove Elementary0.8 mi · 529
- Park View High1.0 mi · 1,409
- Dranesville Elementary1.1 mi · 610
Frequently asked questions
About Sterling MiddleWhat is the total enrollment at Sterling Middle?
Sterling Middle enrolls approximately 967 students in grades 06-08.
Is Sterling Middle an elementary, middle, or high school?
Sterling Middle is a middle school covering grades 06-08.
How many teachers does Sterling Middle have?
Sterling Middle employs 94 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 10.3:1.
What is the student diversity at Sterling Middle?
Student demographics at Sterling Middle are roughly 8% White, 76% Hispanic, 5% Black, 8% Asian, 2% Two or more.
Who oversees Sterling Middle?
Sterling Middle is overseen by Loudoun County Public Schools in Loudoun County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.