Research · High schools - Virginia · October 2026

How Many High Schools Are in Virginia? 349 Public and 265 Private

Name: How Many High Schools Are in Virginia? 349 Public and 265 Private
Creator: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach)
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

As of October 2026: Virginia has 614 high schools: 349 public and 265 private. The largest is Alexandria City High in Alexandria, with 4,655 students in grades 9 through 12.

The table lists the 15 largest public high schools in Virginia by the number of students in grades 9 through 12.

Analysis: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach, highschoolreach.com), October 2026. Figures and the table may be quoted with attribution to Test Prep Gurus.

The findings, in plain English

Virginia has 614 high schools. 349 are public and 265 are private. The 333 public high schools that report enrollment hold 395,410 students in grades 9 through 12 between them. The private count is a floor, because the federal private school survey is voluntary and a school can skip it.

Alexandria City High is the largest public high school in Virginia. It enrolls 4,655 students in grades 9 through 12 in Alexandria. The 15th largest school on the table, Thomas Dale High in Chester, enrolls 2,582. None of the 15 largest are charter schools.

The largest private high school in Virginia is Bishop Denis J. Oconnell High School. It enrolls 1,153 students in Arlington. That is smaller than every public school on the table above. Private schools report total enrollment to the federal survey, so a school that also teaches younger grades counts those students too. Only schools whose lowest grade is 9 are listed here, so each one is a high school.

The 15 largest public high schools in Virginia

Ranked by the number of students in grades 9 through 12.

High school	City	Students in grades 9-12	Charter
Alexandria City High	Alexandria	4,655	No
Washington-Liberty High	Arlington	3,044	No
Lake Braddock Secondary	Burke	2,959	No
Charles J. Colgan Sr. High	Manassas	2,938	No
Chantilly High	Chantilly	2,937	No
Woodbridge High	Woodbridge	2,898	No
West Springfield High	Springfield	2,799	No
Westfield High	Chantilly	2,737	No
West Potomac High	Alexandria	2,710	No
Osbourn Park High	Manassas	2,661	No
Wakefield High	Arlington	2,646	No
Gainesville High	Gainesville	2,630	No
Oakton High	Vienna	2,621	No
Yorktown High	Arlington	2,593	No
Thomas Dale High	Chester	2,582	No

NCES Common Core of Data, grade 9-12 enrollment. Virtual schools are excluded. Absence from this list means a school is not among the largest, nothing more.

The largest private high schools in Virginia

Private schools whose lowest grade is 9, by total enrollment.

High school	City	Students
Bishop Denis J. Oconnell High School	Arlington	1,153
St Paul Vi Catholic High School	Chantilly	1,094
Bishop Ireton High School	Alexandria	802
St John Paul the Great Catholic High School	Dumfries	621
Episcopal High School	Alexandria	467

NCES Private School Universe Survey 2021-22, respondents only. Total enrollment, not a grades 9-12 count.

What these counts cover

A high school here is a school that serves grade 12. Virtual schools are left out, because a school with no building is not comparable to one with a campus. Public counts come from the federal Common Core of Data, which every public district reports to. Private counts come from the federal Private School Universe Survey.

Enrollment for public schools is the number of students in grades 9 through 12, so a school that also teaches middle school grades is not inflated by them. A school that reports no enrollment figure is counted in the state total but cannot be ranked, which is why the number of schools with an enrollment figure is smaller than the public count.

Private high schools in Virginia

The private table below shows the largest private high schools whose lowest grade is 9. The survey is voluntary, so treat these as the largest among the schools that answered, not a complete ranking. A private school that declines the survey does not appear at all.

Private enrollment is a total, not a grades 9 through 12 count, because the survey does not break it out the same way. Limiting the list to schools that start at grade 9 keeps the figures comparable to each other.

What a family should do with this

Size is a starting point, not a verdict. A large school usually offers more courses, more sports and more clubs, and a small school usually gives a student more contact with the adults who write recommendation letters. Both shapes send students to good colleges.

The more useful question is where a school's own graduates actually go. Our page for each Virginia high school carries that school's figures and, where the school publishes one, its own numbered list of the colleges its graduates chose. Start from the school page rather than from the size of the building.

Questions parents ask

How many high schools are in Virginia?

Virginia has 614 high schools: 349 public and 265 private. The largest is Alexandria City High in Alexandria, with 4,655 students in grades 9 through 12.

What is the largest high school in Virginia?

It enrolls 4,655 students in grades 9 through 12 in Alexandria.

Are private high schools included in the Virginia count?

349 are public and 265 are private. The private count is a floor, because the federal private school survey is voluntary and a school can skip it.

Method & sources: Public school counts and grade 9-12 enrollment come from the NCES Common Core of Data; private counts and enrollment come from the NCES Private School Universe Survey, whose respondents are a floor. A high school is a school serving grade 12; virtual schools are excluded. The public table is ranked by grade 9-12 enrollment, and schools without an enrollment figure are counted in the state total but not ranked.

This brief as data: /research/high-schools-in-virginia.json. Free for editorial use with attribution to Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach).