Schools in Zip Code 25304

Zip code 25304 in Charleston, WV, is served by 4 schools—2 elementary schools, 1 middle school, and 1 virtual academy—with no traditional high school, meaning families must look outside the area for grades 9-12 unless they choose the online option.

The standout school in this zip code is Chamberlain Elementary School, which ranks in the top 20% of West Virginia elementary schools (81st percentile, 4 stars). It dramatically outperforms its local peers: math proficiency is 59.8% compared to 46.8% at Kanawha City Elementary School and 35.0% at Horace Mann Middle School. Chamberlain also leads in ELA (58.5%) and science (50.0%). In just two years, Chamberlain jumped from the 41st to the 81st percentile—a remarkable 147-position improvement. By contrast, Kanawha City Elementary School sits near the median (48th percentile) and underperforms the Kanawha County Schools district average in most subjects, despite similar enrollment to Chamberlain. Horace Mann Middle School is the weakest traditional school, ranking at the 50th percentile with concerning 8th-grade math scores (26.7% proficiency), though it does exceed district and state averages in 8th-grade science.

The largest school by far is West Virginia Virtual Academy, enrolling 1,654 students—66% of all students in the zip code—yet no performance data is available for this school, creating a significant transparency gap for parents. Among the traditional schools, per-student spending ranges from $11,019 at Horace Mann to $13,162 at Chamberlain, but higher spending doesn't guarantee better results, as Kanawha City spends more than Chamberlain yet performs worse. Science is a relative strength across all traditional schools, with both elementary schools exceeding state averages in 5th-grade science. For parents, Chamberlain is the clear top choice, while the virtual academy's lack of reported data makes it a risky option to evaluate.