Summary:
Zip code 22043 in Falls Church, Virginia is home to two exceptional public middle schools: Longfellow Middle, serving grades 7–8 with 1,226 students in Fairfax County Public Schools, and Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School, serving grades 6–8 with 632 students in Falls Church City Public Schools. Both schools hold 5-star ratings and rank among the top 35 middle schools in Virginia, making this zip code one of the strongest areas in the state for middle-level education.
Henderson is the higher-ranked of the two, sitting at #14 in Virginia (97th percentile) for the 2025–2026 school year, with a consistent top-15 ranking for three straight years. Longfellow ranks #35 in the state (92nd percentile) and recently improved from 4 stars to 5 stars. Both schools shine brightest in advanced math, with perfect or near-perfect proficiency in Algebra I and Geometry. However, grade-level math tells a different story: Henderson posts 80.8% proficiency in 7th-grade math versus Longfellow's 39.7%. This gap is likely a reflection of Longfellow's aggressive advanced-math tracking, where many high-scoring students take Algebra I or Geometry in 7th and 8th grade, leaving a smaller grade-level cohort.
Both schools have very low chronic absenteeism (6.1% at Longfellow and 5.8% at Henderson, versus a 14.8% state average) and similar student populations with roughly 10% free/reduced lunch eligibility. Henderson spends more per student at $14,877 compared to Longfellow's $10,736, though Longfellow has a lower student-teacher ratio (10.5 versus 13.9). Longfellow outperforms its large district by a wide margin, while Henderson is the sole middle school in its small district, driving Falls Church City's #3 district ranking. For families, the choice comes down to preference: Henderson offers a smaller, consistently elite school with strong grade-level math, while Longfellow offers a larger, efficient school with outstanding reading, science, and advanced math. Both are excellent options.
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