Summary:
Zip code 23188 is served by one public middle school, Lois Hornsby Middle School in Williamsburg, VA, which enrolls 805 students in grades 6 through 8 within Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools. With only one middle school in the area, there are no direct school-to-school comparisons within the zip code; instead, families should evaluate the school against district and state benchmarks. The district is well-regarded, ranking 41st out of 131 districts in Virginia with a 3-star rating.
The school's biggest strengths are its advanced math track and reading proficiency. Eighth-grade Geometry and seventh-grade Algebra I both posted 100% proficiency in 2024-2025 and 2025-2026, while eighth-grade Algebra I was 100% proficient before dipping slightly to 89.83%. Reading scores across grades 6, 7, and 8 remained consistent between 81% and 82% in 2025-2026, comfortably above the state average of about 73%. Chronic absenteeism is also a positive signal at 9.6%, lower than the district's 9.9% and well below the state's 14.8%. With a student-teacher ratio of 14.6 and per-student spending of $8,568, the school offers a supportive learning environment.
The 2025-2026 results do raise some concerns. On-grade-level math proficiency declined sharply in the upper grades: 8th Grade Math dropped from 60.14% to 41.35%, and 7th Grade Math fell from 51.77% to 41.13%, placing both below district and state averages. Science and civics also slipped, with 8th Grade Science at 72.51% and Civics & Economics at 77.38%. These declines align with the school's state ranking slipping from 105th to 150th out of roughly 416 schools, moving from the 75th to the 64th percentile. Despite this, Lois Hornsby Middle School remains above the statewide median and continues to excel in reading and advanced math. The key takeaway is that students in accelerated math courses are thriving, while grade-level math instruction in 7th and 8th grades is the area most in need of improvement.
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