Lakemont Elementary

Lakemont Elementary is a K-5 school in Petersburg, VA, serving about 393 students as part of Petersburg City Public Schools, a division ranked in the bottom 1% of Virginia's 131 school districts. The school itself has sat near the very bottom of Virginia elementary schools for the past decade, placing 1105th out of 1,111 schools in 2025-26.

Academically, Lakemont students score far below state averages on Virginia's SOL tests. In 2025-26, passing rates ranged from roughly 19% in 5th grade math to 50% in 4th grade math, while state averages for those subjects sat around 72-74%. Reading proficiency was similarly low, and only about one in four 5th graders passed the science test. The gap between Lakemont and the state average typically runs 30 to 50 percentage points. Chronic absenteeism is another serious challenge: 29.1% of students were chronically absent in 2024-25, nearly double the state rate of 14.8%, although it is better than the Petersburg district average of 37.8% and lower than several other schools in the district.

Nearly 94% of Lakemont students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, making it a high-poverty school. But nearby schools serving similar populations show that poverty alone doesn't have to determine outcomes. Tussing Elementary, North Elementary, and Lakeview Elementary — all in Colonial Heights with 95-99% of students in need — post many proficiency scores in the 60-90% range, dramatically higher than Lakemont's. Lakemont also has a favorable student-teacher ratio of 11.9 and per-student spending of $8,675, suggesting resources alone don't explain the outcomes. There are occasional bright spots, like 4th grade math beating the district by nearly 13 points in 2025-26, but the overall picture shows a school in need of sustained, systemic support. Reducing chronic absenteeism and strengthening weak areas like Virginia Studies are likely the most direct paths to improvement.