Midland Trail High

Midland Trail High in Hico, WV, serves 618 students in grades 6 through 12 as part of Fayette County Schools. This combined middle and high school has shown remarkable improvement, climbing from the bottom quartile of West Virginia schools a decade ago to a 3-star rating and 50th percentile ranking in 2025-2026—its best performance in years.

The school's standout achievement is its exceptional work with students from low-income backgrounds. In 2025-2026, Midland Trail ranked 15th out of 104 schools statewide for this group, a dramatic 70-position jump from just two years prior. This makes the school an equity success story, especially meaningful in a state with high poverty rates. The school also maintains consistently strong graduation rates—95.6% recently, exceeding both district (92.1%) and state (92.8%) averages. When compared to nearby Greenbrier West High School, Midland Trail's graduation rate advantage is substantial (95.6% vs. 83.1%), even though Greenbrier West sits in a higher-ranked district. Midland Trail also slightly outperforms Oak Hill High in 11th-grade math (19.8% vs. 21.3% proficiency) despite serving a wider grade range with fewer resources per student.

However, challenges remain. While English Language Arts performance is competitive with state averages, math (24.1% proficiency) and science (19.3%) lag significantly behind. The school shows a notable strength in 7th grade, where students exceed state averages in both subjects, but these gains aren't fully sustained in later grades. Support for special education students has also declined sharply in recent years, dropping from a 4-star to a 1-star rating. Additionally, female students have improved dramatically while male students show more modest gains. With per-student spending of $12,373 and a higher student-teacher ratio (17.6) than nearby schools, Midland Trail achieves strong results efficiently—a promising sign for families seeking a school that's clearly on an upward trajectory.