Summary
Westside Elementary in Smithfield, VA, serves 682 students in grades 4 through 6 as part of Isle of Wight County Public Schools, a district ranked 14th out of 131 in Virginia with a 5-star rating. Despite its name, Westside is actually classified as a middle school, and its unusual grade span makes it a bridge between elementary and middle school. About 38.7% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a lower poverty rate than most schools in the surrounding area. The school maintains a 14.1 student-teacher ratio and spends $9,302 per student — less than many nearby middle schools, yet its outcomes are generally stronger.
Academically, Westside posts its best results in 6th grade, where 81.5% of students were proficient in math and 83.8% in reading in 2025-26, well above the state averages of 63.2% and 73.0%. Among nearby middle schools, only B.T. Washington Middle earned higher 6th grade scores in both subjects; Westside outperformed Mary Passage Middle, King's Fork Middle, Crittenden Middle, Georgie D. Tyler Middle, and others. Attendance is another strength: the school's chronic absenteeism rate of 12.4% is below the state average of 14.8% and far better than most nearby schools, including Huntington Middle (38.4%) and King's Fork Middle (20.5%).
The school's 5th grade scores are a relative weak point, lagging the district in math (71.6% vs. 76.5%), reading (72.9% vs. 75.5%), and science (68.6% vs. 74.7%), and 4th grade results have been volatile from year to year. The strong 6th grade rebound, however, suggests students make meaningful gains while at Westside. Graduates feed directly into Smithfield Middle, just 3.5 miles away, which is ranked 31st in Virginia — a pipeline that helps explain why the district's middle schools consistently rank among the state's best.
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