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What's one community event at UNION PRIMARY more people should show up to?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
809
Elementary
DISTRICT 574 · STATE 499
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·WISE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 510408001793
Union Primary
2945 Second Avenue East, Big Stone Gap, VA 24219 · (276) 523-4900 · Wise County
GRADES PK–04ELEMENTARY32-TOWNTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL809 STUDENTS
A+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 99% of Virginia public elementary 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 elementary schools
Student : Teacher
13.3:1
61 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.6:1 · STATE 13.8:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
90%
729 students
DISTRICT 92% · STATE 66%
Community
1
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 115 | 14% |
| Kindergarten | 152 | 19% |
| Grade 1 | 136 | 17% |
| Grade 2 | 136 | 17% |
| Grade 3 | 132 | 16% |
| Grade 4 | 138 | 17% |
This year's kindergarten class (152) is 10% larger than its 4th grade class (138).
Student demographics
20%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
89.0%
VA avg 74.2% . +4.0pp since 2022
Math
89.0%
VA avg 72.7% . -3.0pp since 2022
What this means: On the SOL, Virginia's statewide test, about 89 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 89 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 down about 3 points.
SOL results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 89.0% | 89.0% |
| 2023-24 | 88.0% | 89.0% |
| 2022-23 | 85.0% | 92.0% |
% 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
89.8%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
63.6%
based on VA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+26.3pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 90% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 64% 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 26 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 Primary
Union Primary's state test result (89.8% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Union Primary this school | 809 | 90.1% | 89.8% |
| Honaker Elementary Honaker | 712 | 91.2% | 82.3% |
| Ridgeview Elementary Clintwood | 667 | 96.0% | 67.7% |
| Wise Primary Wise | 603 | 87.2% | 84.3% |
| Richlands Elementary Richlands | 576 | 90.5% | 81.8% |
| Spiller Elementary Wytheville | 615 | 82.4% | 74.6% |
Matched among Virginia elementary 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 Primary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Virginia |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 89.8% | #60 of 1,101 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 89.0% | #149 of 1,111 ▼ 36 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 89.0% | #114 of 1,111 ▼ 4 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 809 | #86 of 1,176 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 13.3:1 | #396 of 1,105 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 20.1% | #1,045 of 1,106 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 90.1% | #327 of 1,157 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +2.9% | #263 of 324 |
Ranked against other public elementary 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
809
+53 (+7%) vs 2020
+5% since 1990-91, when it was 773
Student : Teacher
13.3:1
was 15.4:1
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 | 809 | 61 | 13.3:1 | 90% (729) |
| 2023-24 | 830 | 62 | 13.4:1 | 89% (739) |
| 2022-23 | 861 | 59 | 14.6:1 | 84% (721) |
| 2020-21 | 756 | 49 | 15.4:1 | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 786 | 46.1 | 17.1:1 | 85% (672) |
| 2015-16 | 621 | 40 | 15.5:1 | 59% (366) |
| 2010-11 | 724 | 42 | 17.2:1 | 53% (387) |
| 2000-01 | 705 | 44 | 16.0:1 | 44% (309) |
| 1990-91 | 773 | 43 | 18.0:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Union Primary.
Since 2017-18: students up 3% (786 to 809); teachers up 32% (46.1 to 61).
About Union Primary
Union Primary is a public elementary school run by Wise County Public Schools in Big Stone Gap, Virginia. It serves 809 students in pre-K through 4. For comparison, elementary schools in Virginia average about 499 students.
Wise County Public Schools has 5,779 students in 11 schools, and Union Primary is one of those schools.
Union Primary enrolls a student body that is 89% White. Other reported shares: 6% multiracial and 4% Black. The White share in Wise County as a whole is similar, at about 90%. Union Primary has a diversity index of 20%, compared with 70% for all US public school students.
With 61 full-time-equivalent teachers in 2024-25, the ratio at Union Primary was 13.3:1. Across elementary schools in Virginia, the average ratio is about 13.8:1. Union Primary's free or reduced-price lunch eligibility rate is 90%. Across public schools in Wise County, the average is about the same, 91%.
Union Primary is graded A+ by allk12, scoring above 99% of Virginia public elementary schools once test results, poverty-adjusted performance, and the recent trend are combined.
After accounting for student poverty, Union Primary is in the top 10% of Virginia schools. Its average proficiency rate on state tests of 89.8% is 26.3 points above the 63.6% predicted for its lunch-eligibility share.
In the county around the school, Wise County, median household income is about $52,943, about 16% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 13%. A total of 14 public schools operate in Wise County, serving about 5,779 students.
The nearest public school is Union Middle, at about 0.2 miles. Union Primary has 2 other public schools within five miles. The school's 89.8% average proficiency ranks 1st among 9 nearby schools.
NCES assigns Union Primary the locale Town: Distant, meaning in a town some distance from an urbanized area.
A comparison of 2020-21 and 2024-25 shows enrollment up 7%, from 756 to 809. Its ratio of students to teachers was 15.4:1 in 2020-21, and 13.3:1 in 2024-25.
The allk12 site hosts a discussion page for Union Primary covering things like school events, clubs, and volunteer needs. Reviews and ratings from people who know the school are welcome.
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
- Central HighHigh · 676 students
- Wise PrimaryElementary · 603 students
- Union HighHigh · 564 students
- Union MiddleMiddle · 561 students
- J.W. Adams CombinedElementary · 523 students
- St. Paul ElementaryElementary · 514 students
Other schools in Big Stone Gap
- Union HighHigh · 564 students
- Union MiddleMiddle · 561 students
Nearby schools
- Union Middle0.2 mi · 561
- Union High0.3 mi · 564
- J.I. Burton High6.6 mi · 328
- Norton Elementary7.5 mi · 527
- Central High9.2 mi · 676
- Rye Cove High10.6 mi · 292
Frequently asked questions
About Union PrimaryWhat is the total enrollment at Union Primary?
Union Primary enrolls approximately 809 students in grades PK-04.
Is Union Primary an elementary, middle, or high school?
Union Primary is an elementary school covering grades PK-04.
How many teachers does Union Primary have?
Union Primary employs 61 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 13.3:1.
How diverse is Union Primary?
Union Primary reports a student body of 89% White, 1% Hispanic, 4% Black, 0% Asian, 6% Two or more.
Who oversees Union Primary?
Union Primary is overseen by Wise County Public Schools in Wise County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.