Summary:
Zip code 25015, covering the Belle, West Virginia area, is home to just one middle school: Du Pont Middle School, which serves grades 6 through 8 within the Kanawha County Schools district.
For parents considering this school, the most important takeaway is that Du Pont Middle School faces significant academic challenges, particularly in math and science, while showing relative strength in English Language Arts (ELA). Overall math proficiency sits at just 28.8%, which is more than 10 points below the state average of 39.4%. The problem is most acute in 6th and 7th grades, where proficiency rates are 24.6% and 26.1% respectively—roughly 10 points behind state peers. Interestingly, 8th graders nearly close the gap in math at 34.8%, just above the state average. Science is an even bigger concern, with only 22.4% of 8th graders proficient, trailing the district by 5 points and the state by nearly 7 points. ELA is the school's best subject at 43.6% overall, and 8th-grade ELA actually exceeds the district average, though it still lags the state slightly.
The school has been consistently rated 2 stars for three consecutive years, though its state ranking has been volatile—jumping from 116th in 2023-2024 to 92nd in 2024-2025, then falling back to 109th. With 440 students and a 15.1:1 student-to-teacher ratio, per-student spending is $12,702, yet outcomes don't reflect that investment. The school mirrors some district-wide struggles, but it consistently underperforms its own district averages, suggesting school-specific factors are at play. For parents, the key takeaway is that Du Pont Middle School needs targeted interventions in STEM subjects, especially in early middle school grades, while its 8th-grade ELA performance offers a glimmer of hope for academic recovery.
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