Best Elementary Schools in Zip Code 20170

There are four elementary schools serving grades PK–6 in Herndon, VA (zip code 20170), all part of Fairfax County Public Schools, but they fall into two very different performance tiers. Dranesville Elementary and Clearview Elementary are the strongest schools, with overall SOL proficiency around 68–69%, state rankings near the 40th percentile, and lower poverty rates. In contrast, Hutchison Elementary and Herndon Elementary rank in the bottom 1% of Virginia elementary schools, with overall proficiency between 36% and 40%. The gap between the top and bottom schools is about 30 percentage points, which is striking given they share the same district and zip code.

Poverty closely tracks these outcomes. Dranesville has the lowest free/reduced lunch rate (47.4%) and the highest proficiency (69.4%), while Hutchison has the highest poverty rate (92.4%) and very low scores. Herndon and Clearview fall in between on poverty, but Herndon still performs far worse than Clearview, suggesting other factors are at play. District-wide proficiency averages 74.8%, so even the best local schools lag the district, while Hutchison and Herndon trail by 31–35 percentage points. Notably, Clearview offers the best learning conditions with the smallest class sizes (11.4:1) and low chronic absenteeism (6.9%), while Hutchison has the lowest absenteeism of all (4.0%) but still struggles academically.

Reading consistently improves from 3rd to 6th grade in all four schools, but math dips sharply in 5th grade—Herndon’s 5th-grade math proficiency is just 12.1%. Higher spending does not guarantee results: Clearview and Hutchison both spend about $15,600 per student, yet their outcomes are vastly different. Similarly, Herndon and Dranesville spend nearly the same amount per student, but Dranesville outperforms by roughly 33 points. For parents, the key takeaway is that school choice within this zip code matters greatly, and looking beyond district reputation is essential to understanding each school’s actual performance and environment.