Summary:
Zip code 22482 in Virginia’s Northern Neck region is served by a single elementary school: Lancaster Elementary, which enrolls 542 students in grades K–7 as part of Lancaster County Public Schools. The school spends $11,603 per student and has a student-teacher ratio of 13.7, but its state ranking has slipped for three straight years—from 813th to 917th out of roughly 1,110 Virginia elementary schools, placing it in the 17th percentile for the 2025–2026 school year.
The most striking pattern is a split in performance by grade level. Lancaster Elementary shines in 6th grade, where math proficiency hits 77.61% (over 14 points above the state) and reading reaches 74.63% (slightly above the state). But 5th grade is a trouble spot: math proficiency sits at just 42.11%, reading at 48.00%, and science at 39.47%—all roughly 24–30 points below Virginia averages. Social studies also lags, with 7th grade civics at 50.94% and 4th grade Virginia Studies at 51.52%, both about 19 points behind the state. Year-over-year, the school improved dramatically in 6th grade math (+14.65 points) but saw 5th grade math collapse (-23.46 points) and 5th grade reading drop nearly 21 points.
For parents, the key takeaway is that Lancaster Elementary has clear strengths but is trending downward overall. Chronic absenteeism is 16.6%—above the state’s 14.8%, though better than the district’s 19.7%—and the student body faces economic challenges. Spending per student is respectable, yet most proficiency rates trail state averages by double digits, suggesting barriers beyond funding. The most urgent priorities should be reversing the 5th grade decline, improving science and social studies instruction, and investigating what makes 6th grade successful so those strategies can be replicated schoolwide.
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