Best Public Schools in Zip Code 23234

ZIP code 23234 contains eight public schools serving about 7,720 students: five elementary schools, two middle schools, and one high school, split between Chesterfield County Public Schools (six schools) and Richmond City Public Schools (two schools). This is a high-poverty area, with roughly 79.6% of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, and most schools rank in the bottom 10% of Virginia. However, outcomes vary dramatically between schools, so the district boundary and individual school choice matter a great deal.

Broad Rock Elementary is the top-ranked school in the ZIP, sitting at the 16th percentile, and it outperformed its own Richmond City district in every subject despite nearly 99% poverty. Thomas C. Boushall Middle has the strongest attendance in the area at 12.2% chronic absenteeism — below the state average — along with impressive advanced math results: 80.8% of 7th graders passed Algebra I and 69.7% of 8th graders passed Geometry. Among CCPS schools, Hopkins Road Elementary and J.G. Hening Elementary have the healthiest attendance (13.3% and 13.9%), while Meadowbrook High has improved its state rank from the 2nd to the 9th percentile over three years.

The biggest red flags are chronic absenteeism and secondary achievement. Falling Creek Middle (35.1%) and Meadowbrook High (33.2%) have chronic absenteeism more than double the state average, and Falling Creek Middle's general math proficiency is very low (15.7% in 7th grade), though its 8th-grade Algebra I pass rate jumped to 92.5% in 2025-26 — a change worth verifying. Meadowbrook's graduation rate is 73.9% versus a 92.3% state average, and its dropout rate is 21.9%. Bensley Elementary and Falling Creek Elementary remain at the bottom of state rankings, with Bensley's average reading proficiency around 35%. Richmond City schools spend more per student (~$12,526) than Chesterfield schools (~$8,329), but money alone doesn't explain results — Boushall spends heavily yet ranks last, while Broad Rock combines high spending with the ZIP's best academic performance.