Enrollment
384
Virginia · 2024-25 NCES data
High school (grades 9-12) · Chilhowie, VA
Chilhowie High
Federal NCES profile for Chilhowie High, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 41/100.
2024-25 NCES dataHigh school (grades 9-12)NCES 510352001558
👥 S:T ratio 49
📚 AP courses 15
🌟 Gifted program 70
🎓 Counselors 23
📋 Attendance 49
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Chilhowie High earns 41/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Virginia median. It is also less racially and ethnically mixed than most Virginia schools.
- 41
- Resource Index · Typical
- 12.8:1
- students per teacher
- 64.1%
- free-lunch eligible
- 384
- students enrolled
Chilhowie High has class sizes near the Virginia median. Computed live against every Virginia school reporting to NCES.
School address
District: Smyth County Public Schools · Virginia
NCES ID 510352001558 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
30.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
12.8:1
vs 13.9:1 Virginia avg
-8% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
64.1%
vs 57.6% Virginia avg
+11% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Chilhowie High compares with Virginia and U.S. medians
What stands out at Chilhowie High
Chilhowie High is a higher-need, mid-sized high school in Chilhowie, Virginia, enrolling 384 students.
Class sizes run a bit leaner than typical: 12.8:1 puts it in the smaller third of Virginia schools by student-teacher ratio.
Its free-meal eligibility rate of 64.1% lands close to the Virginia typical range, neither a high- nor low-need campus by this measure.
Enrollment of 384 puts it in the smaller third of Virginia schools by headcount.
Its Resource Investment Index sits near the middle of the pack among 1,868 scored Virginia schools.
Against 166 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks mid-pack at #95.
Its student body is predominantly White (93% of enrollment), among the less diverse in the state (diversity index 13/100).
On the academic-pipeline side it reports 3 Advanced Placement courses.
Counselor availability sits well past the ASCA benchmark, roughly 384 students sharing each counselor, though short of the most stretched campuses.
Attendance runs somewhat below the norm, with 20.3% of students chronically absent per the 2021-22 civil-rights collection.
Its district draws 17.9% of revenue from federal sources, an above-typical federal share that tends to track a higher-need student population.
Smyth County Public Schools also operates Chilhowie Elementary (589 students) and Marion Senior High (563 students) alongside Chilhowie High.
Sourced from NCES CCD, CRDC, and F-33 (federal records, not a quality verdict). How we source and compute this.
Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25
How Chilhowie High compares
Chilhowie High on the metrics families compare, against Virginia and U.S. means.
| Metric | This school | vs Virginia | Virginia avg | U.S. avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Students per teacher | 12.8:1 | ▼ 8% | 13.9:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 64.1% | ▲ 11% | 57.6% | 51.7% |
| Enrollment | 384 | top 76% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
12.8:1
Leaner classes than 68% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
384
Bigger than 45% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Economic need
64.1%
free-lunch eligible
- 11% above the Virginia average of 57.6%
Above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold; federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
Staffing depth
12.8:1
students per teacher
- 8% below state mean
Top 33% in Virginia - lower ratio than 67% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
20.3%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
At or above 20%, the commonly used threshold for "high" chronic absenteeism, signaling significant barriers to regular attendance.
Funding equity
$13,836
per pupil, district-wide
- below Virginia avg of $14,649
Somewhat below the U.S. average per-pupil spend; funding constraints may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors1.0 FTE
Per 384 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
0
in-school suspensions + 9 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.0 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 2.3 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Overview
- Common Core of Data (June 2026): enrollment, staffing, and the student-teacher ratio above.
- Civil Rights Data Collection: discipline counts and program access (AP, gifted, special education).
- F-33 School District Finance Survey: the district-wide per-pupil spending figures below.
Three separate federal collections, each on its own reporting cadence - which is why this school's numbers line up on a consistent basis against every other school and state on this site, rather than mixing figures pulled from different survey years.
Student demographics
White 93.0%
Hispanic or Latino 4.4%
African American 1.6%
Two or More 0.5%
Asian 0.3%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.3%
Largest group: White at 93.0% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 13.3/100
Simpson diversity index - at 13.3, Chilhowie High is less mixed than the Virginia school average of 53.7.
Programs
AP courses offered 3
Gifted & talented Yes
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Smyth County Public Schools, which includes Chilhowie High.
$13,836
Per student
-6%
vs Virginia
Avg $14,649
-17%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 23.6%
State 58.5%
Federal 17.9%
Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey District-level finance · FY 2021-22 Per-pupil expenditure reflects the district-wide average. Individual school budgets are not reported at the federal level.
How Chilhowie High Compares to District-Mates
| School | Enrollment | Economic Profile | Student-Teacher Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chilhowie Elementary | Larger | Higher economic need | Higher S:T ratio |
| Marion Senior High | Larger | Higher economic need | Lower S:T ratio |
| Marion Middle | Similar size | Higher economic need | Similar S:T ratio |
| Oak Point Elementary | Similar size | No free-lunch data | Lower S:T ratio |
| Marion Elementary | Similar size | Higher economic need | Similar S:T ratio |
Comparisons are relative to Chilhowie High's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 589
- Students per teacher
- 14.4:1
- Resource Index
- 46/100
- Enrollment
- 563
- Students per teacher
- 10.2:1
- Resource Index
- 47/100
- Enrollment
- 401
- Students per teacher
- 11.5:1
- Resource Index
- 49/100
- Enrollment
- 352
- Students per teacher
- 11:1
- Resource Index
- 50/100
- Enrollment
- 298
- Students per teacher
- 13:1
- Resource Index
- 55/100
Similar high schools statewide
Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of Virginia, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.
Similar enrollment (~384 students)
Similar student-teacher ratio (~12.8:1)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Chilhowie High's federal record.
- Compare Chilhowie High against another school. Compare schools
- Smyth County Public Schools's spending and staffing shape this school. District profile
- Confirm current enrollment and boundaries with the school. Choosing guide
Federal record (CCD 2024-25, CRDC 2021-22) - PlainSchools assigns no subjective rating; the composite quality score is a transparent, reproducible index computed from this cited federal data.
Frequently asked questions about Chilhowie High
How many students attend Chilhowie High?
Chilhowie High has 384 students enrolled. It is a high school in Chilhowie, VA.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Chilhowie High?
The student-teacher ratio at Chilhowie High is 12.8:1, which is 8% lower than the Virginia average of 13.9:1 and 18% lower than the national average of 15.7:1. Lower ratios generally mean more individual attention per student.
What percentage of students receive free lunch at Chilhowie High?
64.1% of students at Chilhowie High are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Virginia average of 57.6%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Chilhowie High?
The largest demographic group at Chilhowie High is White at 93.0% of enrollment, in Chilhowie, VA.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Chilhowie High?
Chilhowie High has a Resource Investment Index of 41/100 (typical reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 5 factors: student-teacher ratio, AP course offerings, counselor availability, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).
Is Chilhowie High a good school?
Chilhowie High earns 41/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Virginia median. It is also less racially and ethnically mixed than most Virginia schools. This is a resource snapshot, not an academic rating; see the Resource Investment Index question above for what the number does and doesn't measure.
What other schools are in Smyth County Public Schools?
Besides Chilhowie High, Smyth County Public Schools also operates Chilhowie Elementary (589 students), Marion Senior High (563 students), and Marion Middle (401 students). See the Smyth County Public Schools district page for the complete list.
Related tools
Every figure on PlainSchools is rendered directly from the source NCES, CRDC and F-33 federal records, no number is typed in by an editor. Each school's figures reflect its most recent NCES/CRDC submission on file. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of June 2026.