Middle Schools in Pulaski County Public Schools

There is one middle school in Pulaski County Public Schools, Pulaski County Middle, serving grades 6 through 8 with about 825 students in a high-poverty area of Virginia. The school stands out for its exceptional math performance, especially in Algebra I, where 8th graders achieved 100% proficiency in both 2024-2025 and 2025-2026, well above the state average of 93.26%. Seventh grade math also shines, with 62.02% proficiency in 2025-2026 compared to the state's 51.11%, and 8th grade math beats the state by about 6 points. Reading is more varied: 6th grade lags the state by nearly 6 points, 7th grade is right at the state average, and 8th grade improved dramatically from 64.63% to 72.83% proficiency, nearly matching the state's 73.51%.

Despite these strengths, Pulaski County Middle faces real challenges. Chronic absenteeism is 21.7%, nearly 47% higher than the district and state rate of 14.8%, meaning roughly one in five students is chronically absent. The school also has a very high poverty rate, with 91.39% of students eligible for free or reduced lunch. These factors likely contribute to weaker performance in 6th grade math (51.50% vs. 63.19% statewide) and 7th grade civics/economics (64.56% vs. 70.10% statewide). Science is slightly below the state average at 62.12% versus 64.72%. The school's overall ranking is improving, moving from 274th (2023-2024) to 256th (2025-2026) out of about 416 Virginia middle schools, landing in the 38th percentile with a 2-star rating. The district itself ranks 59th out of 131 districts, above the state median.

Year-over-year trends show a mixed but generally positive picture. Improvements include 7th grade math (+5.58 points), 8th grade reading (+8.20), 7th grade reading (+5.08), science (+5.60), and civics (+1.73). Declines appeared in 6th grade math (-4.32), 8th grade math (-5.27), and 6th grade reading (-4.50), while Algebra I stayed perfect. With a favorable student-teacher ratio of 12.5 and spending of $7,276 per student, the school has resources for personalized attention, but reducing chronic absenteeism and strengthening 6th grade skills will likely be essential for moving into the top half of Virginia middle schools.