Schools in Zip Code 23222

Zip code 23222 contains five schools—four elementary schools serving grades PK–5 and one high school serving grades 9–12—with a combined enrollment of 1,668 students split between Henrico County Public Schools and Richmond City Public Schools, in a high-poverty area where free/reduced lunch eligibility ranges from about 89% to more than 100% across all five schools. The elementary schools include Laburnum Elementary, Glen Lea Elementary, Barack Obama Elementary, and Overby-Sheppard Elementary, while Richmond Community High is the only high school; there are no middle schools in the zip code.

Richmond Community High is the clear standout, ranked in the 88th percentile of Virginia high schools with a 100% graduation rate, a 0% dropout rate, and only 1.9% chronic absenteeism. It posts near-perfect SOL scores in writing, Algebra II, Biology, and reading, far exceeding district and state averages, all while serving a 99.5% economically disadvantaged population with an 8.1 student-teacher ratio. Among elementary schools, Barack Obama Elementary leads academically, with 3rd-grade reading proficiency of 69.4% and 4th-grade reading of 73.8%—both at or above the state average and well above its district. By contrast, Laburnum Elementary and Glen Lea Elementary rank near the very bottom of Virginia elementary schools, with average proficiency around 32% and 37%, respectively, and chronic absenteeism near 30%—roughly double the state average.

Overby-Sheppard Elementary shows an interesting pattern, struggling in early grades but reaching 72.2% proficiency in 5th-grade math, nearly matching the state average. Spending varies notably: Richmond City Public Schools spend more per student ($13,214 to $14,578) with lower student-teacher ratios than the Henrico County Public Schools elementary schools, yet the spending gap does not clearly explain outcomes. The strongest school in the zip code, Richmond Community High, has the highest spending and lowest ratio, but Barack Obama outperforms the Henrico schools with mid-level spending. Overall, this zip code demonstrates that high-poverty schools can achieve strong results—as seen at Richmond Community High and Barack Obama Elementary—while also highlighting the serious challenges of chronic absenteeism at Laburnum and Glen Lea. Parents should weigh school-level performance carefully rather than relying on district rankings alone.