Best Middle Schools in Zip Code 23703

Zip code 23703 in Portsmouth, VA contains just one middle school: Churchland Middle, which serves grades 7 and 8 with approximately 798 students, making it a two-grade middle school rather than a traditional 6–8 configuration. With no other middle schools in the zip code for comparison, the most useful benchmarks are its district, Portsmouth City Public Schools, and the state of Virginia. The school has a student-teacher ratio of 14.7 and spends $10,307 per student, but the standout demographic feature is that free/reduced lunch eligibility exceeds 100%, indicating that virtually the entire student body comes from economically disadvantaged households.

The most striking academic pattern at Churchland Middle is the enormous gap between advanced and grade-level math. In 2025-2026, 96.30% of 7th graders in Algebra I and 97.73% of 8th graders in Geometry were proficient, matching or exceeding state averages. But only 23.93% of 7th graders and 23.76% of 8th graders were proficient in standard grade-level Mathematics, compared to state averages above 46%. This roughly 72-to-74-point gap shows the school excels with students placed in accelerated courses while the majority of students in regular math classes are far behind expectations.

Churchland Middle generally outperforms its district in reading, science, and civics — with reading proficiency near 60%, science at 51.2%, and civics at 66.49% — but it still trails state averages by roughly 10 to 13 points in these subjects. Chronic absenteeism is 14.4%, essentially in line with the district and state averages of 14.8%. The school's statewide ranking has been stable in the bottom 13–16% of Virginia middle schools, largely because grade-level math is both its weakest area and one of the most heavily tested subjects. For parents, the takeaway is that Churchland Middle has clear strengths in advanced math and is a relative bright spot within a struggling district, but the majority of students in standard math classes need significant support.