Summary:
Zip code 22473 is served by a single high school, Northumberland High, a small rural school in Heathsville, Virginia, that enrolls 380 students in grades 9–12 and operates under Northumberland County Public Schools. Because it is the only high school in the area, all district-level performance figures mirror the school's own numbers, making Northumberland High responsible for defining the entire district's reputation.
Northumberland High is a high-poverty school, with nearly 96% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, yet it posts some impressive results. Its graduation rate of 93.6% slightly exceeds the Virginia average of 92.3%, and the school outperforms the state in Algebra I (91.9% proficient vs. 80.2% statewide), Algebra II (100% vs. 94.4%), and Biology (74.0% vs. 68.9%). These STEM strengths are genuine bright spots. However, the school faces serious challenges in other subjects. Proficiency in VA & US History is critically low at just 13.6%, less than half the state rate of 34.5%, and Geometry crashed from a perfect 100% in 2024–2025 to 54.6% in 2025–2026, a 45-point collapse. English Reading (83.0%) also trails the state by about 5 points, and World History I (62.0%) falls 10 points behind.
The school's overall state ranking has declined sharply, from the 60th percentile in 2023–2024 to the 36th percentile in 2025–2026, with its star rating dropping from 3 stars to 2 stars. Chronic absenteeism is a concern at 18.2%, about 3.4 points above the state average, and the dropout rate of 5.3% is slightly higher than Virginia's 5.0%. Because the school's small size means each grade cohort averages around 95 students, year-to-year test scores can swing dramatically with just a handful of students. For parents, the picture is mixed: this is a school with excellent math and science instruction and a strong graduation rate, but it urgently needs support in history, geometry, and attendance to reverse its downward ranking trend.
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