Summary:
Zip code 23504 is served by a single high school, Booker T. Washington High in Norfolk, VA, a public school enrolling 904 students in grades 9 through 12 within the Norfolk City Public Schools district. This is a high-poverty school, with 92.7% of students qualifying for free or reduced lunch, and it faces significant challenges reflected in its state ranking of 312 out of 331 Virginia high schools, placing it in the bottom 6% with a zero-star rating.
The school's student outcome metrics reveal considerable stress. The graduation rate is 76.8%, well below the state's 92.3%, while the dropout rate of 14.8% is nearly triple the state's 5.0%. Chronic absenteeism affects 27.4% of students, nearly double the state average of 14.8%. Overall SOL proficiency averages 57.2% over two years, roughly on par with the 57.8% district average but about 9 points below the state's 66.6%. With a 12:1 student-teacher ratio, class sizes are relatively small, yet academic results remain low, indicating that additional support beyond smaller classes is needed.
Despite these challenges, there are meaningful bright spots. Tenth-grade English Reading exceeded both district and state averages in two consecutive years, and 11th-grade VA & US History and 10th-grade Geography outperformed the state in 2025-26. Biology and several grade-level reading results also showed strength. However, math and writing are notable weaknesses, with 9th-grade Geometry proficiency at 53.3% versus the state's 85.9% and 10th-grade Writing at just 35.7% versus the state's 64.1%. The school matched or beat the district in 18 of 42 subject-grade test cells and beat the state in 14, showing that while the overall picture is concerning, pockets of success exist that could be leveraged for improvement.
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