Best Public Schools in Pennington Gap, VA

Summary:

The city of Pennington Gap, Virginia is home to two schools: Elk Knob Elementary and Pennington Middle, both part of the Lee County Public Schools district. These schools serve students from pre-kindergarten through 8th grade and face unique challenges in serving their high-poverty communities.

Elk Knob Elementary has shown relatively strong performance in 4th grade SOL tests, with 73-88% proficiency rates in Math, Reading, and VA Studies. However, the school struggles in 3rd grade SOL tests, with only 59-63% proficiency in Math and Reading. Despite this, Elk Knob Elementary has a high percentage of free/reduced lunch recipients at 84.74%. In contrast, Pennington Middle has excelled in 7th grade SOL tests, with 80-90% proficiency rates in Math, Reading, and Civics/Economics. The school also spends more per student at $8,506, compared to $6,363 at Elk Knob Elementary.

Both schools face challenges, including high chronic absenteeism rates of 15.7% and serving communities with significant socioeconomic disparities. While Pennington Middle appears to be the stronger-performing school, the data suggests that targeted interventions and additional resources may be necessary to improve educational outcomes for all students in Pennington Gap.

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				SOL Mathematics (2025)					SOL Science (2025)	SOL English Reading (2025)					SOL Civics and Economics (2025)	SOL VA Studies (2025)	Per Pupil Expenditures (2024)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	Rank Change from Previous Year	SOL Mathematics 3rd Grade	SOL Mathematics 4th Grade	SOL Mathematics 5th Grade	SOL Mathematics 6th Grade	SOL Mathematics 7th Grade	SOL Science 5th Grade	SOL English Reading 3rd Grade	SOL English Reading 4th Grade	SOL English Reading 5th Grade	SOL English Reading 6th Grade	SOL English Reading 7th Grade	SOL Civics and Economics 7th Grade	SOL VA Studies 4th Grade	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Elk Knob Elementary	Public	PK, KG-4	148 Hornet Loop	Pennington Gap	24277	Lee County	Lee County Public Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(276) 546-1837	291	24	12.2	87.6%	281 (96.6%)	2 (0.7%)	3 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.4%)	46.5	649^th of 1110 public elementary schools	41.5%		58.1	509^th of 1114 public elementary schools	54.3%	140	62.8	76.9					58.8	73.1					74.5	$9,441	$1,568	$7,873
Pennington Middle	Public	5-7	121 Bobcat Circle	Pennington Gap	24277	Lee County	Lee County Public Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(276) 546-1453	278	31	9.1	99.6%	269 (96.8%)	4 (1.4%)	2 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.1%)	57.9	189^th of 419 public middle schools	54.9%		60.4	175^th of 417 public middle schools	58.0%	14			73.7	65.3	89.9	68.4			68.0	70.4	80.7	60.9		$11,496	$2,149	$9,347

Cities Near Pennington Gap

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Ben Hur	3.37 mi	1
Jonesville	3.52 mi	3	226^th
Saint Charles	3.64 mi	1	59^th
Dryden	5.35 mi	1	250^th
Duffield	13.13 mi	2	124^th

See the top VA Virginia cities

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Virginia Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.