As the birthplace of eight U.S. presidents and carrying a long history of its sons and daughters leaving school to serve in the federal government, Virginia’s public school systems are held to a high standard of academic excellence. Luckily, the state boasts some of the finest public school divisions (the term used to denote subsections of schools in Virginia, rather than “school district”) in the country.

Virginia’s top school division is Falls Church City Public Schools, administering five schools serving the Washington, D.C. suburb. FCCPS has an excellent, well earned reputation for academic excellence, recently boasting an on-time graduation rate of 100% and SAT scores over 200 points higher than the state average.

At #2 we have Arlington Public Schools, a large school division of over 30 schools and an enrollment topping 25K serving Arlington County, VA, which sits across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. Students of this affluent county are known for their diversity, hailing from 122 nations and able to speak over 100 languages.

Ranking third is Loudoun Public Schools, a massive school division with enrollment topping 80K headquartered in Ashburn, VA. 2017 witnessed 40 LCPS students becoming National Merit Semifinalists.

Fairfax County Public Schools, the largest school division in the country, boasting an enrollment of over 180,000, ranks #4.

York County School Division, a modestly sized (for Virginia), yet high-performing school division, is #5. At 95.4%, YCSD’s 2017 graduation rate was over 4 points above Virginia’s already excellent statewide average.

Top School Districts in Virginia, 2018

State RankSchool DistrictState
1Falls Church City Pblc SchsVirginia
2Arlington Co Pblc SchsVirginia
3Loudoun Co Pblc SchsVirginia
4Fairfax Co Pblc SchsVirginia
5York Co Pblc SchsVirginia
6Hanover Co Pblc SchsVirginia
7Botetourt Co Pblc SchsVirginia
8Roanoke Co Pblc SchsVirginia
9Goochland Co Pblc SchsVirginia
10Albemarle Co Pblc SchsVirginia
11Williamsburg-James City Pblc SchsVirginia
12Montgomery Co Pblc SchsVirginia
13Poquoson City Pblc SchsVirginia
14Prince William Co Pblc SchsVirginia
15Powhatan Co Pblc SchsVirginia
16Gloucester Co Pblc SchsVirginia
17Stafford Co Pblc SchsVirginia
18Floyd Co Pblc SchsVirginia
19West Point Pblc SchsVirginia
20King Geo Co Pblc SchsVirginia
21Manassas Park City Pblc SchsVirginia
22Salem City Pblc SchsVirginia
23Chesterfield Co Pblc SchsVirginia
24Henrico Co Pblc SchsVirginia
25New Kent Co Pblc SchsVirginia
26Fauquier Co Pblc SchsVirginia
27Middlesex Co Pblc SchsVirginia
28Franklin Co Pblc SchsVirginia
29Va Beach City Pblc SchsVirginia
30Prince George Co Pblc SchsVirginia
31Chesapeake City Pblc SchsVirginia
32Rockingham Co Pblc SchsVirginia
33Charlottesville Cty Pblc SchsVirginia
34Isle Of Wight Co Pblc SchsVirginia
35Colonial Heights City Pblc SchsVirginia
36Fluvanna Co Pblc SchsVirginia
37Augusta Co Pblc SchsVirginia
38Clarke Co Pblc SchsVirginia
39Scott Co Pblc SchsVirginia
40Spotsylvania Co Pblc SchsVirginia
41Radford City Pblc SchsVirginia
42Washington Co Pblc SchsVirginia
43Culpeper Co Pblc SchsVirginia
44King And Queen Co Pblc SchsVirginia
45Rockbridge Co Pblc SchsVirginia
46Pittsylvania Co Pblc SchsVirginia
47King William Co Pblc SchsVirginia
48Patrick Co Pblc SchsVirginia
49Nelson Co Pblc SchsVirginia
50Frederick Co Pblc SchsVirginia
51Manassas City Pblc SchsVirginia
52Northumberland Co Pblc SchsVirginia
53Bedford Co Pblc SchsVirginia
54Orange Co Pblc SchsVirginia
55Richmond Co Pblc SchsVirginia
56Giles Co Pblc SchsVirginia
57Pulaski Co Pblc SchsVirginia
58Alexandria City Pblc SchsVirginia
59Campbell Co Pblc SchsVirginia
60Wise Co Pblc SchsVirginia
61Craig Co Pblc SchsVirginia
62Dinwiddie Co Pblc SchsVirginia
63Bland Co Pblc SchsVirginia
64Appomattox Co Pblc SchsVirginia
65Tazewell Co Pblc SchsVirginia
66Suffolk City Pblc SchsVirginia
67Alleghany Co Pblc SchsVirginia
68Louisa Co Pblc SchsVirginia
69Shenandoah Co Pblc SchsVirginia
70Russell Co Pblc SchsVirginia
71Southampton Co Pblc SchsVirginia
72Fredericksburg City Pblc SchsVirginia
73Highland Co Pblc SchsVirginia
74Warren Co Pblc SchsVirginia
75Page Co Pblc SchsVirginia
76Carroll Co Pblc SchsVirginia
77Wythe Co Pblc SchsVirginia
78Caroline Co Pblc SchsVirginia
79Greene Co Pblc SchsVirginia
80Henry Co Pblc SchsVirginia
81Winchester City Pblc SchsVirginia
82Rappahannock Co Pblc SchsVirginia
83Mecklenburg Co Pblc SchsVirginia
84Charlotte Co Pblc SchsVirginia
85Colonial Beach Pblc SchsVirginia
86Amherst Co Pblc SchsVirginia
87Norton City Pblc SchsVirginia
88Mathews Co Pblc SchsVirginia
89Staunton City Pblc SchsVirginia
90Roanoke City Pblc SchsVirginia
91Waynesboro City Pblc SchsVirginia
92Lee Co Pblc SchsVirginia
93Surry Co Pblc SchsVirginia
94Halifax Co Pblc SchsVirginia
95Smyth Co Pblc SchsVirginia
96Bath Co Pblc SchsVirginia
97Galax City Pblc SchsVirginia
98Covington City Pblc SchsVirginia
99Grayson Co Pblc SchsVirginia
100Dickenson Co Pblc SchsVirginia

Methodology

The following contributed to the ranking: student performance (math and reading test scores), dropout rates, school funding, and area poverty rates. Data was collected from a total of 9,577 school districts.

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