Summary:
Zip code 23322 in Chesapeake, Virginia is home to two excellent middle schools—Great Bridge Middle and Hickory Middle—both serving grades 6 through 8 as part of Chesapeake City Public Schools, a district ranked 34th out of 131 Virginia school divisions with a 4-star rating. These two schools are among the very best in the state, ranking 24th and 22nd respectively out of 416 Virginia middle schools in the 2025-2026 school year, placing both in the top 5-7% statewide.
Hickory Middle is the slightly higher-ranked school, earning a 5-star rating and 95th percentile placement, thanks in large part to its exceptional math program. Hickory posted perfect 100% proficiency scores in Algebra I and Geometry in both 2024-2025 and 2025-2026, and it also has better attendance (6.9% chronic absenteeism vs. 9.3% at Great Bridge) and a lower student-teacher ratio (12.9 vs. 14.8). Great Bridge Middle, however, is no slouch—it earned a 94th percentile ranking and 5-star rating of its own, and it actually outperforms Hickory in English Reading, Civics & Economics, and Science. Overall average SOL proficiency across all subjects is nearly identical, with Hickory at 87.5% and Great Bridge at 86.6% in the most recent year.
Both schools have favorable attendance and poverty levels, with free/reduced lunch rates around 14% and chronic absenteeism well below the state rate of 14.8%. Great Bridge's clearest relative weakness is 8th-grade math, where proficiency dipped to 61.44% in 2024-2025 before recovering to 71.56%, still below Hickory's 80%. Hickory also spends about $479 more per student ($9,552 vs. $9,073), which may contribute to its stronger math results and lower class sizes. For families in zip code 23322, the choice between these two schools largely comes down to a child's strengths: Hickory Middle is the math and attendance powerhouse, while Great Bridge Middle excels in literacy, civics, and science—together they make this one of the strongest middle-school zones in Virginia.
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