Summary:
Doddridge County Middle School is the sole middle school in the Doddridge County Schools district, serving grades 5 through 8 in the rural community of West Union, West Virginia, with 352 students and a student-teacher ratio of 13.5:1.
This school’s standout strength is science. Overall science proficiency is 40.7%, which is 11.4 percentage points above the state average, and 5th grade science is exceptional at 52.1% proficiency—a remarkable 17.5 points above the state. The school also shows strong 5th grade math performance (+9.5 points vs. state) and solid 7th grade ELA (+5.3 points). However, there is a clear grade-level slide: 8th graders underperform the state in math (-3.8) and ELA (-5.9), while barely matching in science. This suggests instruction may be strongest in the early middle school years, with a need for more support as students approach 8th grade. The school’s ranking has been volatile—it dropped to a 2-star rating in 2024-2025 (ranked 115th) but rebounded to a 3-star rating in 2025-2026 (ranked 66th), a 49-position improvement in one year.
Compared to its own district, the middle school trails in math (38.5% vs. 40.4%) and ELA (46.9% vs. 50.5%), suggesting elementary schools in the district are likely outperforming this school. Per-student spending is $19,600, which is substantial, yet results are moderate—worth investigating how resources are used. For parents, the key takeaway is that this school excels in science and early-grade math, but 8th grade achievement is a concern. The dramatic year-over-year ranking swing also indicates that individual class cohorts can heavily influence results, so it’s wise to look beyond a single year’s data when evaluating the school.
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