Summary:
Zip code 22205 is home to five schools in Arlington County Public Schools — a district ranked 26th out of 131 in Virginia (top 20%, 4 stars) — serving approximately 3,424 students in pre-kindergarten through 8th grade, with four elementary schools and one middle school, but no high school. All five schools rank at or above the 79th percentile in Virginia, making this a consistently high-performing area with no struggling school in the traditional sense.
Cardinal Elementary is the standout school, ranking 20th of 1,111 Virginia elementary schools (98th percentile, 5 stars) while spending the least per student at $11,213; it also has the lowest chronic absenteeism (4.2%) and the lowest free/reduced lunch rate (6.74%) in the zip code. Escuela Key Elementary is the most improved, climbing from 408th to 180th in state rankings over two years, with 3rd-grade math proficiency jumping from 83.87% to 94.32%. Swanson Middle School excels in advanced math with 100% proficiency in Geometry and Algebra I, but its on-grade-level 7th-grade math proficiency is a weak spot at 35.78%.
Arlington Traditional was historically elite, ranking 10th in Virginia in 2023-2024, but slipped to 82nd in 2025-2026, with 5th-grade science falling from 93.33% to 76.92%. Ashlawn Elementary spends the most per student ($15,327) and has the smallest classes (12.4 student-teacher ratio), yet trails Cardinal academically, showing that money and class size don't directly predict outcomes. Chronic absenteeism across the zip code ranges from 4.2% to 8.4%, far below the district average of 12.1% and the state average of 14.8%. Free/reduced lunch rates range from 6.74% at Cardinal to 35.26% at Arlington Traditional, yet all schools still achieve strong results.
Thank you for your feedback!