Summary:
Highland County Public Schools is a small, rural Virginia district serving 208 students across two schools — Highland Elementary (PK–5, 105 students) and Highland High (6–12, 103 students) — with the district overall ranking 54th out of 131 Virginia districts (3 stars).
Highland High is the most striking school in the area: it ranked 2nd out of 328 Virginia high schools in 2024–2025 with a 100% graduation rate, 0% dropout rate, and 100% proficiency on many SOL tests, but fell to 190th just one year later — a classic pattern when small student cohorts produce extreme swings. Highland Elementary, by contrast, shows consistent strength in reading, beating state averages in every tested grade in 2025–2026 (e.g., 75% vs. 67.61% in 3rd grade reading). However, its 4th grade math proficiency (58.82%) trails the state by more than 14 points, and 5th grade math fell a dramatic 20 points year-over-year.
Chronic absenteeism is a concern at Highland High at 28.6% — nearly double the state average — even as the school posts perfect graduation outcomes. Highland Elementary is below the state average at 12.6%. Both schools are well-resourced: per-student spending is $14,111 at the elementary and $17,724 at the high school, with student-teacher ratios of 10.5 and 6.7, respectively. Highland High also excelled in 6th grade math (+24.3 points vs. state), 7th grade math (+21.6), and 7th grade civics (+18.1) in 2025–2026. The district’s 3-star rating masks these major school-level differences — the takeaway for parents is that small schools here create both exceptional highs and sudden drops, making year-to-year rankings less reliable than long-term subject-level trends.
Thank you for your feedback!