1
What tradition at UNION HIGH should never be changed?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
564
High
DISTRICT 553 · STATE 1,213
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·WISE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 510408001792
Union High
322 Powell Valley Road, Big Stone Gap, VA 24219 · (276) 523-1290 · Wise County
GRADES 09–12HIGH32-TOWNTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL564 STUDENTS
A+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 95% of Virginia public high schools
- ATest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- A+Beats 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 high schools
Student : Teacher
15.2:1
37 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.9:1 · STATE 13.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
91%
511 students
DISTRICT 92% · STATE 66%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other high schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 9 | 148 | 26% |
| Grade 10 | 131 | 23% |
| Grade 11 | 142 | 25% |
| Grade 12 | 143 | 25% |
Student demographics
17%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 17% · 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
90.0%
VA avg 74.2% . +5.0pp since 2022
Math
87.0%
VA avg 72.7% . +0.0pp since 2022
What this means: On the SOL, Virginia's statewide test, about 90 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 87 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 5 points since 2022, while math scores have held steady.
SOL results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 90.0% | 87.0% |
| 2023-24 | 87.0% | 92.0% |
| 2022-23 | 85.0% | 87.0% |
% Passing, all students and all tested grades.
Source: SOL. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of VA schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
84.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
63.4%
based on VA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+21.4pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 85% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 63% typical for Virginia schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations ranks schools against others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school can post high scores and still fall short of its prediction, or post lower scores and still beat it. This school clears its prediction by about 21 points, placing it in Virginia's top 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 Union High
Union High's state test result (84.9% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Union High this school | 564 | 90.6% | 84.9% |
| Tazewell High Tazewell | 509 | 88.8% | 82.3% |
| Lebanon High Lebanon | 571 | 90.9% | 67.1% |
| Graham High Bluefield | 489 | 89.6% | 84.0% |
| Central High Norton | 676 | 90.7% | 88.6% |
| Richlands High Richlands | 557 | 88.5% | 85.1% |
Matched among Virginia high 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 Union High ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Virginia |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 84.9% | #45 of 311 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 87.0% | #123 of 316 ▼ 77 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 90.0% | #95 of 316 ▲ 34 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 564 | #236 of 325 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 15.2:1 | #218 of 309 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 17.3% | #282 of 309 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 90.6% | #82 of 319 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -16.8% | #32 of 178 |
Ranked against other public high 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
564
+30 (+6%) vs 2020
-18% since 1990-91, when it was 690
Student : Teacher
15.2:1
was 14.4:1
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 | 564 | 37.1 | 15.2:1 | 91% (511) |
| 2023-24 | 567 | 37.5 | 15.1:1 | 88% (501) |
| 2022-23 | 601 | 38 | 15.8:1 | 86% (514) |
| 2020-21 | 534 | 37 | 14.4:1 | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 678 | 39.6 | 17.1:1 | 53% (357) |
| 2015-16 | 674 | 40 | 16.9:1 | 51% (342) |
| 2010-11 | 528 | 30 | 17.6:1 | 45% (238) |
| 2000-01 | 548 | 36 | 15.2:1 | 23% (128) |
| 1990-91 | 690 | 34 | 20.3:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Union High.
Since 2017-18: students down 17% (678 to 564); teachers down 6% (39.6 to 37.1).
About Union High
Located in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, Union High is a small high school. In all, 564 students attend the school in grades 9 through 12. That puts enrollment 54% below the 1,213-student average for high schools in Virginia.
In Wise County Public Schools, 11 schools enroll a combined 5,779 students.
The share of students at Union High who are White is 91%. Smaller groups are 4% Black, 3% multiracial, and 2% Hispanic. Wise County residents are about 90% White, a similar share. A diversity index of 17% means there is a 17% chance two randomly chosen students at Union High are from different groups.
Based on 37.1 full-time-equivalent teachers, Union High has a ratio of 15.2:1. Across high schools in Virginia, the average ratio is 13.9:1. Income data for the school show 91% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Public schools in Wise County average a similar 91%.
Among Virginia public high schools, Union High outscored 95%, which works out to an A+ on the allk12 Grade.
The allk12 BeatsExpectations score for Union High is +21.4 points, in the top 10% of Virginia. Its average proficiency rate across its state test results is 84.9%, and the predicted rate is 63.4%.
In Wise County, where the school is located, the median household earns about $52,943 a year, roughly 16% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 13% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Counting Union High, Wise County has 14 public schools.
Union Primary, about 0.3 miles away, is the closest public school. A five-mile radius around the school includes 2 other public schools. Among the 9 closest schools with test data, this one included, Union High ranks 3rd on average proficiency.
The school's federal locale classification is Town: Distant.
The school's enrollment increased 6% from 2020-21 to 2024-25.
Union High has a community page on allk12 for topics such as athletics, class schedules, and weather closures. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
Wise County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
35,448
Census ACS
Median income
$52,943
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
16%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
13%
Below federal line
Schools in county
14
5,779 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Wise County Public Schools
- Union PrimaryElementary · 809 students
- Central HighHigh · 676 students
- Wise PrimaryElementary · 603 students
- Union MiddleMiddle · 561 students
- J.W. Adams CombinedElementary · 523 students
- St. Paul ElementaryElementary · 514 students
Other schools in Big Stone Gap
- Union PrimaryElementary · 809 students
- Union MiddleMiddle · 561 students
Other Union High schools
13 other US public schools in 13 states are named Union High. Union High is the 7th largest of the 14.
- Union High SchoolTulsa, OK · 3,569 students
- Union High SchoolUNION, NJ · 2,410 students
- Union High SchoolCamas, WA · 1,989 students
- Union HighROOSEVELT, UT · 1,166 students
- UNION HIGHUNION, MO · 956 students
Nearby schools
- Union Primary0.3 mi · 809
- Union Middle0.4 mi · 561
- J.I. Burton High6.7 mi · 328
- Norton Elementary7.7 mi · 527
- Central High9.3 mi · 676
- Rye Cove High10.3 mi · 292
Frequently asked questions
About Union HighHow many students attend Union High?
Union High enrolls approximately 564 students in grades 09-12.
What age range does Union High serve?
Union High serves students from grade 09 through grade 12.
How many teachers does Union High have?
Union High employs 37 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 15.2:1.
What is the student diversity at Union High?
Student demographics at Union High are roughly 91% White, 2% Hispanic, 4% Black, 3% Two or more.
What district is Union High in?
Union High is part of Wise County Public Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.