Summary:
Zip code 23885, covering the Sutherland area of Virginia, is served by a single public elementary school: Sutherland Elementary, which enrolls 548 students in grades PK through 5 and is part of Dinwiddie County Public Schools. The school has a very high-poverty profile, with 94.16% of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, yet it maintains a relatively low student-teacher ratio of 14.4 and spends $10,167 per student.
Sutherland Elementary shows a clear bright spot in early-grade math: 3rd grade math proficiency reached 74.65% in the most recent year, slightly above the Virginia state average of 74.04%. Reading in 3rd grade also comes close to the state average. Chronic absenteeism stands at 13.7%, which is better than both the district rate of 19.8% and the state average of 14.8% — an encouraging sign given the school’s poverty level. The school’s state ranking has also improved modestly over three years, rising from the 17th percentile in 2023–2024 to the 22nd percentile in 2025–2026. However, performance drops sharply in 4th grade: math proficiency falls to 53.01%, more than 20 points below district and state averages, and reading also slides. By 5th grade, math and reading remain roughly 13 and 11 points below the state, respectively, while science trails by about 10 points.
Year-to-year trends are mixed. The school made notable gains in 5th grade math (+12.85 points), 5th grade reading (+3.29), science (+7.5), and 4th grade Virginia Studies (+5.45), but 4th grade math and reading both declined. Overall, Sutherland Elementary demonstrates real strengths in early math instruction, attendance, and gradual ranking improvement, but its biggest challenge is sustaining academic progress as students move into upper elementary grades. For parents, this suggests a school that is working diligently under difficult circumstances, though extra support in 4th and 5th grade math and reading may be needed to close the gap with state averages.
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