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Honest take: what's the hardest part about being a student at UNION MIDDLE?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
561
Middle
DISTRICT 417 · STATE 750
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·WISE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 510408002050
Union Middle
3137 Second Avenue East, Big Stone Gap, VA 24219 · (276) 523-0195 · Wise County
GRADES 05–08MIDDLE32-TOWNTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL561 STUDENTS
A
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 94% 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.
- 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 middle schools
Student : Teacher
12.1:1
46 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 11.4:1 · STATE 13.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
94%
526 students
DISTRICT 92% · 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 5 | 141 | 25% |
| Grade 6 | 137 | 24% |
| Grade 7 | 132 | 24% |
| Grade 8 | 151 | 27% |
Student demographics
13%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
83.0%
VA avg 74.2% . +2.0pp since 2022
Math
79.0%
VA avg 72.7% . -3.0pp since 2022
What this means: On the SOL, Virginia's statewide test, about 83 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 79 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 2 points since 2022, while math scores are down about 3 points.
SOL results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 83.0% | 79.0% |
| 2023-24 | 84.0% | 83.0% |
| 2022-23 | 81.0% | 82.0% |
% 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
82.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
62.6%
based on VA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+19.4pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 82% 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 19 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 Middle
Union Middle's state test result (82.0% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Union Middle this school | 561 | 93.8% | 82.0% |
| Ridgeview Middle Clintwood | 586 | 96.9% | 70.8% |
| Richlands Middle Richlands | 447 | 88.1% | 77.0% |
| Staunton River Middle Moneta | 612 | 87.4% | 66.9% |
| Carroll County Middle Hillsville | 747 | 91.7% | 71.8% |
| Marion Middle Marion | 401 | 100.0% | 63.8% |
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 Union Middle ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Virginia |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 82.0% | #62 of 337 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 79.0% | #98 of 342 ▼ 40 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 83.0% | #72 of 342 ▼ 20 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 561 | #237 of 343 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 12.1:1 | #96 of 327 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 13.3% | #324 of 333 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 93.8% | #69 of 340 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -7.4% | #151 of 224 |
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
561
-73 (-12%) vs 2020
-18% since 1990-91, when it was 688
Student : Teacher
12.1:1
was 15.5:1
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 | 561 | 46.5 | 12.1:1 | 94% (526) |
| 2023-24 | 569 | 46.8 | 12.2:1 | 93% (532) |
| 2022-23 | 583 | 45 | 13.0:1 | 89% (518) |
| 2020-21 | 634 | 41 | 15.5:1 | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 606 | 41 | 14.8:1 | 85% (513) |
| 2015-16 | 496 | 37 | 13.4:1 | 56% (280) |
| 2010-11 | 506 | 32 | 15.8:1 | 53% (267) |
| 2000-01 | 486 | 34 | 14.3:1 | 40% (196) |
| 1990-91 | 688 | 36 | 19.1:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Union Middle.
Since 2017-18: students down 7% (606 to 561); teachers up 13% (41 to 46.5).
About Union Middle
Union Middle is a small middle-grades school for students in Big Stone Gap, Virginia. Grades offered run from 5 through 8, with 561 students enrolled. For comparison, middle schools in Virginia average about 750 students.
Union Middle is part of Wise County Public Schools, where 11 schools serve 5,779 students.
Federal enrollment data show Union Middle is 93% White. It is also 3% multiracial and 2% Hispanic. That is close to the 90% White share among all Wise County residents. Union Middle's diversity index is 13%, against a US figure of 70%.
Federal staffing data show 46.5 full-time-equivalent teachers at Union Middle and a ratio of 12.1:1. This ratio sits 1.0 below the 13.1:1 average for middle schools in Virginia. Free or reduced-price lunch eligibility covers 94% of students. For comparison, public schools in Wise County average 91%.
Union Middle is graded A by allk12, scoring above 94% of Virginia public middle schools once test results, poverty-adjusted performance, and the recent trend are combined.
After accounting for student poverty, Union Middle is in the top 10% of Virginia schools. Its average proficiency rate on state tests of 82.0% is 19.4 points above the 62.6% predicted for its lunch-eligibility share.
In the county around the school, Wise County, the median household income is $52,943, 16% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 13% of people live in poverty. There are 14 public schools in Wise County, enrolling about 5,779 students in all.
The school nearest to Union Middle is Union Primary, at a distance of about 0.2 miles. Other public schools within five miles number 2. On average proficiency, Union Middle is 5th of 8 nearby schools with test data.
The school is in a town some distance from an urbanized area, according to its NCES locale (Town: Distant).
Enrollment dropped 12% from its 2020-21 level of 634. The ratio of students to teachers went from 15.5:1 to 12.1:1 over the same years.
The Union Middle community page is open for posts about sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
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 HighHigh · 564 students
- J.W. Adams CombinedElementary · 523 students
- St. Paul ElementaryElementary · 514 students
Other schools in Big Stone Gap
- Union PrimaryElementary · 809 students
- Union HighHigh · 564 students
Other Union Middle schools
6 other US public schools in 7 states are named Union Middle. Union Middle is the 4th largest of the 7.
- Union MiddleSan Jose, CA · 1,068 students
- Union MiddleSANDY, UT · 911 students
- UNION MIDDLEUNION, MO · 704 students
- Union MiddleClinton, NC · 374 students
- Union Middle SchoolUnion, MS · 286 students
Nearby schools
- Union Primary0.2 mi · 809
- Union High0.4 mi · 564
- J.I. Burton High6.4 mi · 328
- Norton Elementary7.4 mi · 527
- Central High9.0 mi · 676
- Rye Cove High10.6 mi · 292
Frequently asked questions
About Union MiddleHow large is Union Middle?
Union Middle enrolls approximately 561 students in grades 05-08.
What age range does Union Middle serve?
Union Middle serves students from grade 05 through grade 08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Union Middle?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Union Middle is approximately 12.1:1 (46 FTE teachers).
What is the student diversity at Union Middle?
Student demographics at Union Middle are roughly 93% White, 2% Hispanic, 2% Black, 3% Two or more.
Is Union Middle public or private?
Union Middle is a public K-12 school, overseen by Wise County Public Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.