Summary:
Shepherdstown, West Virginia is served by two highly-rated public schools within the Jefferson County Schools district, which holds a 4-star rating and ranks in the top 28% of districts statewide. Shepherdstown Elementary School (grades PK-5, 310 students) and Shepherdstown Middle School (grades 6-8, 308 students) both earned 4-star ratings and rank in the top quartile of their respective school categories.
These two schools have complementary academic strengths. Shepherdstown Elementary School is a standout in mathematics, with an all-grades proficiency rate of 60.6%—more than 20 percentage points above both the district (40.2%) and state (39.4%) averages. This strength is consistent across grades 3, 4, and 5. In contrast, Shepherdstown Middle School excels in English Language Arts, posting a 60.1% proficiency rate that is 10 points higher than the district and 12.5 points higher than the state. The middle school's 7th-grade ELA score of 71.4% is particularly impressive, exceeding the state average by over 25 points. The middle school also benefits from a notably low student-teacher ratio of 10.8:1 and spends over $2,400 more per student than the elementary school.
While both schools perform well above state averages in most areas, there are some points to watch. Middle school science proficiency (32.3%) is only slightly above the state average and below the district average, presenting a clear area for improvement. The elementary school's science score, however, is excellent at 55.6%, though it showed significant volatility from the previous year. Ranking trends are positive overall: the elementary school jumped from 131st to 74th in the state, while the middle school dipped slightly from 21st to 36th but remains in the top quartile. For parents, this is a community with two solid, well-resourced schools that offer distinct strengths depending on the grade level and subject.
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