NCES CCD 2024-25 5 schools VA

Best-Resourced Schools in Lorton, VA

Compiled from official source data by PlainSchools. · Updated August 2026

5 public K-12 schools in Lorton from NCES Common Core of Data: enrollment, grade span, demographics, and Civil Rights Data Collection statistics for every active campus.

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Schools

5,067

Students

49.2/100

Avg Resource Index

15.8:1

Avg Student-Teacher Ratio

National city placement

One campus shapes the city average

According to NCES CCD 2024-25, Lorton has more public-school enrollment than 56% of the 4,487 US cities in this directory. South County High enrolls 41.6% of Lorton's public-school students. That is enough concentration for one institution to pull the citywide enrollment, staffing, and Resource Index averages toward its own profile. The smaller campuses below should therefore be compared directly rather than inferred from the headline mean; their grade configurations and program footprints can be materially different even inside the same district.

Combined-grade campuses shape the local portfolio

3 of Lorton's 5 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.

One district, but meaningful resource variation

Lorton's schools share one district authority while their average Resource Investment Index ranks at the 85th percentile among listed cities. Shared governance removes one source of policy variation, but it does not erase campus differences by grade span or enrollment. The 18-point gap between South County Middle and South County High measures the remaining local spread. Use the district-level picture for common budget context, then compare the school components to see whether staffing, counseling, gifted-program reporting, or attendance accounts for each campus's position.

City enrollment: Top 44%
School count: Top 99%
Resource Index average: 85th percentile
Teacher staffing: 45th percentile

South County High accounts for 41.6% of all Lorton public-school enrollment

That dominant concentration means Lorton-wide averages can mask substantial variation outside the largest entity. Grade level: High. The share measures enrollment concentration only; it does not establish how districts allocate programs, capital, or staff. Enrollment-weighted aggregates give this entity more weight than any smaller peer, while an unweighted entity average treats every record equally.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data Accessed 2026-08-26

Lorton school enrollment varies 4.0× across entities

Lorton school enrollment ranges from 530 students (lowest) to 2,106 students (highest), a spread of 1,576 students. That relatively narrow ratio reflects an unusually homogeneous school portfolio for a city this size. 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 Accessed 2026-08-26

Lorton operates one school district — a single-district system

Lorton's listed schools share one district boundary, budget authority, and reporting chain. That makes citywide and districtwide governance easier to compare, but it does not make individual campuses uniform: grade configuration, staffing, programs, and student need can still vary materially within the same school district.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data Accessed 2026-08-26

Lorton student-teacher ratio is 15.8:1 — near the typical range (US average ~15.7) — citywide staffing is neither unusually lean nor unusually crowded by this measure

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 Variation between sub-units within Lorton is typically wider than the Lorton-aggregate figure suggests.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data, Public School Universe Accessed 2026-08-26

#	School	Score	Enrollment	Level	District
1.	South County Middle	60	943	middle	Fairfax County Public Schools
2.	Laurel Hill Elementary	50	743	Combined	Fairfax County Public Schools
3.	Gunston Elementary	50	530	Combined	Fairfax County Public Schools
4.	Lorton Station Elementary	44	745	Combined	Fairfax County Public Schools
5.	South County High	42	2,106	high	Fairfax County Public Schools

Most racially and ethnically mixed schools in Lorton

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.

What do families ask about schools in Lorton?

Which Lorton school has the highest Resource Investment Index? ▼

South County Middle has the highest Resource Investment Index among the Lorton schools in this federal-data comparison at 60/100. The index summarizes reported staffing, counseling, gifted-program, and attendance inputs; it is not an academic rating.

How many schools are in Lorton, VA? ▼

Lorton has 5 public schools with a total enrollment of 5,067 students. Average student-teacher ratio: 15.8:1.

Other Cities in Virginia

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.