Best Middle Schools in Zip Code 24012

Zip code 24012 is served by a single middle school, Breckinridge Middle, which enrolls students in grades 6 through 8 in Roanoke, Virginia. This large urban school serves about 733 students and is part of Roanoke City Public Schools, a district ranked in the bottom 11% of Virginia districts. Nearly every student at Breckinridge Middle qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, and the school spends $11,355 per student with a favorable 13.6-to-1 student-teacher ratio. Chronic absenteeism is 17.9%, which is better than the district average of 25.0% but above the state average of 14.8%.

Breckinridge Middle currently ranks #392 out of 416 Virginia middle schools, placing it in the 6th percentile with a 0-star rating. It has ranked near the bottom of the state for three consecutive years. However, the school shows a striking split in student performance. In advanced courses, students achieve exceptional results: 100% proficiency in 7th-grade Algebra I, 95.2% in 8th-grade Geometry, and 92.9% in 8th-grade Earth Science. Yet grade-level math proficiency is very low, ranging from 21.4% in 6th grade to 34.4% in 8th grade, far below state averages. Reading scores improve by grade level, from 35.8% in 6th grade to 51.2% in 8th grade, but still trail the state by 22 to 37 points.

The most dramatic change is a large drop in 6th-grade math, falling from 44.7% to 21.4% in one year, suggesting challenges with a particular incoming cohort or instructional instability. Despite the low overall ranking, Breckinridge Middle beats its district in several subjects, including 7th-grade math, 8th-grade math, and Earth Science. Civics results are mixed, with 7th grade above the state average but 8th grade far below. The bottom line is that Breckinridge Middle has clear strengths in advanced coursework but faces a major challenge in raising grade-level proficiency. The school demonstrates that academic talent exists among its students, but success is currently concentrated in a small group taking accelerated classes.