Summary:
ZIP code 22801 is served by two public high schools — Rocktown High and Harrisonburg High — both part of Harrisonburg City Public Schools and serving grades 9 through 12 with economically challenged student populations, as more than 84% of students at each school qualify for free or reduced lunch.
The two schools offer very different strengths. Harrisonburg High has experienced an extraordinary turnaround, jumping 169 positions in Virginia's state rankings over three years — from the 6th percentile in 2023–24 to the 58th percentile in 2025–26 — and outperforms Rocktown High in nearly every 2025–26 SOL subject test, including Geometry, Algebra I, Biology, and English Reading. Its Algebra I and Biology proficiency rates meet or exceed state averages in several grade levels. Rocktown High, by contrast, leads in student completion: its 94.0% graduation rate tops both the district (90.3%) and state (92.3%), and its 4.9% dropout rate is well below the district's 7.8% and nearly identical to the state's 5.0%.
Despite similar poverty levels, the schools show that academic test scores and graduation outcomes do not always align. Harrisonburg High posts stronger test scores but struggles with a 9.8% dropout rate and 19.4% chronic absenteeism — both well above state averages. Rocktown High has lower test proficiency but clearly excels at keeping students on track to graduate. Both schools also shine in 9th-grade Geometry and Biology, where proficiency exceeds state averages, though older students retaking Algebra I or English Reading show weaker results. Data gaps remain — Rocktown High does not report chronic absenteeism, spending, or multi-year ranking history — but together these schools demonstrate that school quality is multi-dimensional and a single ranking does not capture the full picture.
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