26 public K-12 schools in Falls Church from NCES Common Core of Data: enrollment, grade span, demographics, and Civil Rights Data Collection statistics for every active campus.
National city placement
According to NCES CCD 2024-25, Falls Church has more public-school enrollment than 93% of the 4,487 US cities in this directory. Falls Church lands in the upper national tier on both the average Resource Investment Index and teacher staffing intensity. Those measures come from different inputs: the index combines reported counselors, gifted access, attendance, and staffing, while the staffing percentile compares the city's student-teacher ratio directly. Agreement across both measures is stronger evidence of broad reported capacity than either score alone, though neither is a test-score rating or a guarantee about an individual classroom.
16 of Falls Church's 26 listed schools use NCES's combined or “other” grade-level classification. Citywide averages therefore blend campuses serving unusually broad or nonstandard grade spans with conventional elementary, middle, and high schools. Grade configuration is a first-order comparison here, not a minor label.
The 42-point gap between Mary Ellen Henderson Middle and Pimmit Early Childhood Resource Center shows the range hidden by Falls Church's average Resource Investment Index. The city figure is useful for national placement, but families ultimately choose among campuses with different grade spans, enrollment, district affiliations, and reported support fields. Start with schools serving the relevant grade level, then compare the index components rather than assuming the city average describes any one classroom.
Falls Church school enrollment ranges from 33 students (lowest) to 2,357 students (highest), a spread of 2,324 students. That ratio is an extreme outlier spread — among the widest gaps observed anywhere in this dataset. Per-school staffing and program breadth can differ sharply at opposite ends of that enrollment range, so the city average should not be treated as a typical campus.
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
student-teacher ratio is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: the ratio counts FTE classroom teachers against total enrollment, push-in specialists, English-language aides, special-education co-teachers, and counselors are not included in most reporting Lower values often correlate with smaller scale and population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se.
| # | School | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Mary Ellen Henderson Middle | 72 |
| 2. | Meridian High | 65 |
| 3. | Longfellow Middle | 61 |
| 4. | Oak Street Elementary | 60 |
| 5. | Jackson Middle | 58 |
| 6. | Woodburn Elementary | 57 |
| 7. | Shrevewood Elementary | 54 |
| 8. | Bailey's Upper Elementary School for the Arts and Sciences | 54 |
| 9. | Haycock Elementary | 53 |
| 10. | Glen Forest Elementary | 52 |
| 11. | Belvedere Elementary | 52 |
| 12. | Lemon Road Elementary | 52 |
| 13. | Beech Tree Elementary | 52 |
| 14. | Westgate Elementary | 51 |
| 15. | Timber Lane Elementary | 51 |
| 16. | Bailey's Elementary School for the Arts and Sciences | 49 |
| 17. | Sleepy Hollow Elementary | 47 |
| 18. | Jessie Thackrey Preschool | 47 |
| 19. | Pine Spring Elementary | 46 |
| 20. | Marshall High | 45 |
| 21. | Graham Road Elementary | 45 |
| 22. | Westlawn Elementary | 44 |
| 23. | Falls Church High | 42 |
| 24. | Justice High | 41 |
| 25. | Mount Daniel Elementary | 41 |
| 26. | Pimmit Early Childhood Resource Center | 30 |
Ranked by the Simpson student-body diversity index (0-100) from NCES race and ethnicity data, where higher means a more evenly mixed student body. It measures mix, not quality.
Mary Ellen Henderson Middle has the highest Resource Investment Index among the Falls Church schools in this federal-data comparison at 72/100. The index summarizes reported staffing, counseling, gifted-program, and attendance inputs; it is not an academic rating.
Falls Church has 26 public schools with a total enrollment of 20,754 students. Average student-teacher ratio: 13.9:1.
Side-by-side: Compare any two schools or districts in Virginia →
Data from NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 and Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) 2021-22. The Resource Investment Index uses reported student-teacher ratio, counselor access, gifted programs, and attendance; it is not an academic rating. Cities must include at least five schools to be listed. This public-data comparison is for informational purposes: verify current enrollment, attendance boundaries, and programs with the school district before acting. See the guide to understanding NCES data.
