Schools in Zip Code 22406

Zip code 22406, located in Virginia's Stafford County, is home to three public schools in Stafford County Public Schools: T. Benton Gayle Middle (grades 6–8), Rocky Run Elementary (K–5), and Hartwood Elementary (K–5), with a combined enrollment of 2,477 students. There is no high school in the zip code, so families should plan for students to transition outside the area after 8th grade.

The three schools show very different performance profiles. Hartwood Elementary is the clear standout, ranking 273 out of 1,111 elementary schools statewide (75th percentile, 4 stars) with roughly 82% average SOL proficiency and scores above the state average in all 8 tested subjects. Rocky Run Elementary struggles by comparison, ranking 844 out of 1,111 (24th percentile, 1 star) with about 62% proficiency and only one subject above the state average. T. Benton Gayle Middle falls in between, ranking 249 out of 416 middle schools (40th percentile, 2 stars) with roughly 73.5% proficiency. Rocky Run also has the highest poverty rate (75.2% free/reduced lunch eligibility) and highest chronic absenteeism (19.1%), while Hartwood has the lowest on both measures (30.0% and 8.8%).

Perhaps the most striking finding is the 20-percentage-point achievement gap between the two elementary schools despite nearly identical per-pupil spending and student-teacher ratios. Attendance and poverty levels track closely with performance across all three schools. T. Benton Gayle shows a fascinating math split: students in advanced Algebra I and Geometry courses score 87–99% proficient, while 8th graders taking grade-level math score just 31% — a pattern that likely contributed to the school's drop from the 50th to 40th percentile in rankings. It also had the lowest per-pupil spending of the three at $9,407, yet was not the lowest-performing school, suggesting that demographics, attendance, and instructional quality matter more than resources alone.