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John Handley High

Public Grades 9-12
293rd
SchoolDigger Rank ?
of 328 Virginia High Schools
Better than 11% of Virginia high schools
Summary

John Handley High is a public high school in Winchester, Virginia, serving 1,355 students in grades 9-12. The school is part of the Winchester City Public Schools district, which is ranked 108 out of 129 districts in the state and has a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger.

John Handley High has consistently ranked in the bottom half of Virginia high schools over the past 10 years, ranging from 172 to 293 out of 321-328 schools. The school has received a 1 or 2-star rating from SchoolDigger, indicating it is performing below average compared to other Virginia high schools. The school struggles with the performance of several student subgroups, including female students, Asian students, multi-racial students, and students with disabilities, all of which rank in the bottom 25% of Virginia high schools. However, the school performs better with African American and Hispanic students, ranking in the middle to upper-middle range, but still below the state average.

John Handley High's 4-year graduation rate ranges from 90.9% to 92.8% over the past 5 years, slightly below the state average, and its dropout rate has ranged from 4.5% to 6.9% during the same period, higher than the state average. The school has also experienced a concerning trend of increasing chronic absenteeism, rising from 15.7% in 2023-2024 to 21.7% in 2022-2023, significantly higher than the state average. While the school's performance on SOL (Standards of Learning) tests is mixed, with some subject areas performing at or above the state average, its overall performance is generally lower than the Winchester City Public Schools district average and the state average.

1,361
Students ?
21.6
Student/teacher ratio ?
$13,157
Per pupil spending ?
84.5%
Free/discounted lunch ?
 425 Handley Blvd
       Winchester, VA  22601

(540) 662-3471

District: Winchester City Public Schools

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:
45.5%
White:
35.0%
African American:
8.7%
more
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 Compare John Handley High to nearby high schools!
At a glance
Ranking trend: Declining — 47th percentile in 2015 → 11th in 2025
Worth a look
!Test scores below the Virginia average (73% vs 82% meeting standards)
!In the lower quartile statewide (11th percentile)
!Ranking has slipped — down 36 percentile points since 2015
Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?
This school73%
District avg73%
Virginia avg82%
293rd of 328
Virginia public high schools ?
Bottom 11%▼ down 36 pts since 2015
From bottom 47% (2015) to bottom 11% (2025)
See the entire ranking list of Virginia High Schools →
SchoolDigger rating ?
108th of 129Winchester City Public Schools among Virginia districts
Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)
Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankVirginia percentileRating
202527.7293 of 32810.7%★☆☆☆☆
202447.9208 of 32936.8%★★☆☆☆
202331.8270 of 32617.2%★☆☆☆☆
202232.8249 of 32523.4%★☆☆☆☆
202131.8239 of 32726.9%★☆☆☆☆
201938.2231 of 32729.4%★★☆☆☆
201829.4271 of 32616.9%★☆☆☆☆
201738.0226 of 32430.2%★★☆☆☆
201646.4179 of 32144.2%★★☆☆☆
201546.2172 of 32246.6%★★☆☆☆
201460.580 of 32275.2%★★★★☆
201337.0225 of 32129.9%★★☆☆☆
201246.2186 of 32142.1%★★☆☆☆
201146.5177 of 32044.7%★★☆☆☆
201040.1225 of 31729.0%★☆☆☆☆
200934.0243 of 31322.4%★☆☆☆☆
200829.4269 of 31614.9%★☆☆☆☆
200738.0229 of 31326.8%★☆☆☆☆
200648.7162 of 31448.4%★★☆☆☆
200554.5117 of 30862.0%★★★☆☆

African American

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankVirginia percentileRating
202534.7183 of 24525.3%★☆☆☆☆
202449.2140 of 24943.8%★★☆☆☆
202331.4199 of 24017.1%★☆☆☆☆

Asian

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankVirginia percentileRating
20252.3124 of 1250.8%☆☆☆☆☆

Disabled

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankVirginia percentileRating
202431.6191 of 25324.5%★☆☆☆☆
202316.9230 of 2497.6%☆☆☆☆☆

English Language Learner

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankVirginia percentileRating
202517.090 of 10110.9%★☆☆☆☆
202440.584 of 12231.1%★★☆☆☆
202325.084 of 9713.4%★☆☆☆☆

Female

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankVirginia percentileRating
202522.5296 of 3217.8%☆☆☆☆☆
202442.1231 of 32228.3%★☆☆☆☆
202324.7291 of 3209.1%☆☆☆☆☆

Hispanic

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankVirginia percentileRating
202527.4205 of 23613.1%★☆☆☆☆
202445.4143 of 23338.6%★★☆☆☆
202322.7213 of 2328.2%☆☆☆☆☆

Homeless

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankVirginia percentileRating
202542.95 of 616.7%★★★☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankVirginia percentileRating
202532.7261 of 32419.4%★☆☆☆☆
202448.7178 of 32044.4%★★☆☆☆

Male

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankVirginia percentileRating
202528.8279 of 32213.4%★☆☆☆☆
202448.9188 of 32241.6%★★☆☆☆
202334.8247 of 32123.1%★☆☆☆☆

Multi-racial

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankVirginia percentileRating
20256.7195 of 1981.5%☆☆☆☆☆
202414.8185 of 1986.6%☆☆☆☆☆
20230.8193 of 1930.0%☆☆☆☆☆

White

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankVirginia percentileRating
202551.2186 of 31340.6%★★☆☆☆
202451.1187 of 31440.4%★★☆☆☆
202346.6203 of 31535.6%★★☆☆☆
How student groups rank statewide ? (each group's percentile vs the same group at other schools — higher is better; the +/- beside each compares the group with this school's overall percentile)
White (2025)41st percentile+30 vs school
African American (2025)25th percentile+15 vs school
Disabled (2024)25th percentile-12 vs school
Low Socio Economic Status (2025)19th percentile+9 vs school
Homeless (2025)17th percentile+6 vs school
Male (2025)13th percentile+3 vs school
Hispanic (2025)13th percentile~ school
English Language Learner (2025)11th percentile~ school
Female (2025)8th percentile-3 vs school
Multi-racial (2025)2nd percentile-9 vs school
Asian (2025)1st percentile-10 vs school
By subject vs Virginia (2024-2025) ?
Geometry88%+4 vs state
English Reading78%-8 vs state
Algebra I78%~ state avg
Biology62%-16 vs state

1.0
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What people are saying
by a citizen
Friday, June 1, 2018

Open Quote Students in this school run wild. There have been many fights throughout the school year. Students are allowed to transfer from one class to another for any reason they want which makes for poor academic settings. Administration does not hold anyone accountable except for the poor teachers that have no control over who is put into their classes. School board policies have created a sinking ship. Send your child somewhere else. Close Quote





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Frequently Asked Questions about John Handley High

In the 2024-25 school year, 1,361 students attended John Handley High.

Students at John Handley High are 45% Hispanic, 35% White, 9% African American, 6% Two or more races, 4% Asian.

John Handley High ranks in the bottom 10.7% of Virginia high schools.


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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.





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