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If you could change one rule at WESTERN BRANCH MIDDLE, what would it be?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
855
Middle
DISTRICT 931 · STATE 750
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CHESAPEAKE CITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 510081000313
Western Branch Middle
4201 Hawksley Dr, Chesapeake, VA 23321 · (757) 638-7920 · Chesapeake city
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL855 STUDENTS
B+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 65% of Virginia public middle schools
- BTest 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
12.6:1
68 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.0:1 · STATE 13.1:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
73%
627 students
DISTRICT 53% · 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 | 263 | 31% |
| Grade 7 | 303 | 35% |
| Grade 8 | 289 | 34% |
Student demographics
70%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 70% · 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
79.0%
VA avg 74.2% . -2.0pp since 2022
Math
72.0%
VA avg 72.7% . -4.0pp since 2022
What this means: On the SOL, Virginia's statewide test, about 79 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 72 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 2 points since 2022, while math scores are down about 4 points.
SOL results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 79.0% | 72.0% |
| 2023-24 | 79.0% | 72.0% |
| 2022-23 | 81.0% | 76.0% |
% 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
74.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
68.1%
based on VA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+6.4pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 75% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 68% 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 Western Branch Middle
Western Branch Middle's state test result (74.5% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Western Branch Middle this school | 855 | 73.3% | 74.5% |
| Jolliff Middle Chesapeake | 753 | 73.8% | 77.9% |
| Greenbrier Middle Chesapeake | 788 | 73.9% | 77.9% |
| Matoaca Middle Matoaca | 775 | 76.3% | 59.8% |
| Brandon Middle Virginia Beach | 1,053 | 67.4% | 75.3% |
| Deep Creek Middle Chesapeake | 764 | 72.8% | 67.9% |
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 Western Branch Middle ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Virginia | In Chesapeake city |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 74.5% | #128 of 337 | #6 of 10 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 72.0% | #143 of 342 ▼ 1 | #6 of 10 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 79.0% | #104 of 342 ▼ 18 | #6 of 10 ▼ 1 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 855 | #128 of 343 | #5 of 10 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 12.6:1 | #130 of 327 | #7 of 10 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 69.7% | #63 of 333 | #3 of 10 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 73.3% | #164 of 340 | #3 of 10 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -2.2% | #212 of 224 | #7 of 7 |
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
855
-80 (-9%) vs 2020
+1% since 1990-91, when it was 843
Student : Teacher
12.6:1
was 14.6:1
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 | 855 | 68 | 12.6:1 | 73% (627) |
| 2023-24 | 903 | 62.2 | 14.5:1 | 58% (521) |
| 2022-23 | 887 | 66.8 | 13.3:1 | 37% (330) |
| 2020-21 | 935 | 64 | 14.6:1 | N/A |
| 2017-18 | 874 | 65 | 13.4:1 | 32% (276) |
| 2015-16 | 836 | 61 | 13.7:1 | 29% (246) |
| 2010-11 | 892 | 44 | 20.3:1 | 26% (236) |
| 2000-01 | 1,520 | 97 | 15.7:1 | 27% (403) |
| 1990-91 | 843 | 41 | 20.6:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Western Branch Middle.
Since 2017-18: students down 2% (874 to 855); teachers up 5% (65 to 68).
About Western Branch Middle
Western Branch Middle is a medium-sized middle-grades school in Chesapeake, Virginia, (ZIP code 23321). The school's enrollment of 855 students covers grades 6 through 8.
Chesapeake City Public Schools has a total of 45 schools and 40,607 students, Western Branch Middle among them.
White students form the largest group at Western Branch Middle, 38% of enrollment. Enrollment also includes 37% Black, 11% multiracial, 10% Hispanic, and 4% Asian. Among people living in Chesapeake city, the White share is about 55%. Western Branch Middle has a diversity index of 70%, compared with 70% for all US public school students.
The ratio of students to teachers is 12.6:1, with 68 full-time-equivalent teachers on staff. Across middle schools in Virginia, the average ratio is about 13.1:1. Lunch subsidy eligibility at Western Branch Middle is 73%. The gap from the 49% average for public schools in Chesapeake city is 24 points.
Western Branch Middle is graded B+ by allk12, scoring above 65% of Virginia public middle schools once test results, poverty-adjusted performance, and the recent trend are combined.
Western Branch Middle sits between the top and bottom 10% of Virginia schools on BeatsExpectations, with an actual average proficiency rate on state tests of 74.5% and a predicted 68.1%.
Chesapeake city has about 252,583 residents, and median household income is about $95,373, 37% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 7% of people live in poverty. The public schools of Chesapeake city number 50 and enroll about 40,607.
Of nearby public schools, Western Branch High is the closest, at about 0.3 miles. Inside a five-mile radius, there are at least 8 other public schools. The school's 74.5% average proficiency ranks 2nd among 5 nearby schools.
Western Branch Middle is inside a principal city with a population of 250,000 or more, a location NCES labels City: Large.
Enrollment was 935 in 2020-21 and 855 in 2024-25, a decrease of 80 students. Federal data show the ratio falling from 14.6:1 to 12.6:1.
Discussion on this page can cover school safety, transportation, and start times. Reviews and ratings from people who know the school are welcome.
Chesapeake city at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
252,583
Census ACS
Median income
$95,373
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
37%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
50
40,607 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Chesapeake City Public Schools
- Grassfield HighHigh · 2,345 students
- Oscar F. Smith HighHigh · 2,264 students
- Western Branch HighHigh · 2,138 students
- Deep Creek HighHigh · 1,691 students
- Indian River HighHigh · 1,634 students
- Hickory HighHigh · 1,600 students
Other schools in Chesapeake
- Grassfield HighHigh · 2,345 students
- Oscar F. Smith HighHigh · 2,264 students
- Western Branch HighHigh · 2,138 students
- Deep Creek HighHigh · 1,691 students
- Indian River HighHigh · 1,634 students
- Hickory HighHigh · 1,600 students
Nearby schools
- Western Branch High0.3 mi · 2,138
- Western Branch Primary0.3 mi · 801
- Western Branch Intermediate0.4 mi · 795
- Churchland Elementary1.2 mi · 721
- Olive Branch Preschool Center2.0 mi · 171
- Churchland Middle2.4 mi · 798
Frequently asked questions
About Western Branch MiddleHow large is Western Branch Middle?
Western Branch Middle enrolls approximately 855 students in grades 06-08.
Is Western Branch Middle an elementary, middle, or high school?
Western Branch Middle is a middle school covering grades 06-08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Western Branch Middle?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Western Branch Middle is approximately 12.6:1 (68 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Western Branch Middle?
At Western Branch Middle, the student body is approximately 38% White, 10% Hispanic, 37% Black, 4% Asian, 11% Two or more.
What district is Western Branch Middle in?
Western Branch Middle is part of Chesapeake City Public Schools.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.