Independence Middle, 1370 Dunstan Lane: grades 6 to 8, 1,178 students in fall 2025, fully accredited, framework score 87.35. Office: 757-648-4600.
Last checked Oct. 19, 2026. Sources: Independence Middle, Virginia Beach City Public Schools, the Virginia Department of Education’s School Quality Profile and the federal NCES school directory.
Independence Middle School serves sixth through eighth grade at 1370 Dunstan Lane for Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VBCPS). It had 1,178 students in fall 2025, the state’s count shows.
Who to call
- Front office: 757-648-4600
- Registering a new student: the school office handles registration; families can also start online
- Which school is my address zoned for? the School Locator, or the division’s Demographics and Planning Division at 757-263-1055
- Buses: transportation dispatch 757-263-1545; after hours 757-263-2949
- Division main line: 757-263-1000
| Address | 1370 Dunstan Lane, Virginia Beach, VA 23455 |
| Phone | 757-648-4600 |
| Grades | 6 to 8 |
| Student hours | 9:25 a.m. to 4:05 p.m. |
| Office hours | 8:05 a.m. to 4:35 p.m. |
| Website | independencems.vbschools.com |
| Division | Virginia Beach City Public Schools |
Principal
Principal Christy McQueeney, according to the school’s website.
Enrollment and teachers
- State count: 1,178 students in fall 2025, down from 1,193 in fall 2024 and 1,211 in fall 2023, according to the School Quality Profile. Fall 2025 broke down as 378 in sixth grade, 402 in seventh grade and 398 in eighth grade.
- Federal count: 1,208 students in the 2023-24 school year, with 73 full-time-equivalent teachers, according to the NCES directory. That works out to about 17 students per teacher.
State report card
Virginia rates schools two ways. Accreditation checks that a school meets the state’s Standards of Accreditation. The School Performance and Support Framework “considers multiple measures of student success, including academic achievement, growth, readiness, and graduation,” the division’s accreditation and performance page says, and gives each school a score and a performance level.
- Accreditation: Fully Accredited. All 81 VBCPS schools earned full accreditation for 2026-27, based on 2025-26 data, the division announced Oct. 7.
- Framework score: 87.35, performance level Meets Expectations, in the state’s division summary.
Standards of Learning pass rates (share of tested students who passed):
| Subject | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 |
|---|---|---|---|
| English reading | 80% | 80% | 80% |
| Math | 70% | 65% | 63% |
| Science | 79% | 80% | 79% |
The full profile also reports attendance, student groups, teacher data and spending.
Attendance zone and feeder schools
Look up any address in the division’s School Locator; the school’s own 2026-27 zone map (PDF) shows its boundary. Zones do not follow neighborhood or ZIP code lines, so check the address, not the area.
Feeder schools: on the division’s 2026-27 zone maps, the Independence Middle zone overlaps all or part of the zones of Hermitage Elementary, Malibu Elementary, Pembroke Elementary, Pembroke Meadows Elementary, Shelton Park Elementary, Thalia Elementary, Thoroughgood Elementary, Windsor Oaks Elementary and Windsor Woods Elementary. Most of the zone’s area lies in the Princess Anne High zone and part in the Bayside High zone, according to the division’s 2026-27 attendance zone maps, so the high school depends on the street.
Families who want a different school can file an out-of-zone request.
Rezoning: under the rezoning plan the School Board approved Nov. 26, 2024, which took effect in the 2025-26 school year, the Renaissance Apartments and 122 Mac St. Apartments moved from Larkspur Middle to Independence.
Calendar and bell times
From the division’s 2026-27 calendar (PDF):
- Monday and Tuesday, Nov. 2-3: no school for students (staff days; Nov. 3 is Election Day)
- Wednesday, Nov. 11: Veterans Day, schools closed
- Wednesday to Friday, Nov. 25-27: Thanksgiving break
- Dec. 21 to Jan. 1: winter break
- March 29 to April 2, 2027: spring break
- Friday, June 11, 2027: last day for students
Students attend from 9:25 a.m. to 4:05 p.m. and the office is open 8:05 a.m. to 4:35 p.m., according to the division’s school hours page, which sets the same hours for all middle schools.
Closings and delays are posted on the division’s weather page.
More on Virginia Beach schools
- The school’s website and its state School Quality Profile
- Every public school in Virginia Beach
- Our Virginia Beach schools guide for registration documents and School Board meetings
- Our neighborhoods guide
Frequently asked questions
What grades does Independence Middle serve?
Sixth through eighth grade. It is part of Virginia Beach City Public Schools.
How is Independence Middle rated by the state?
It is fully accredited for 2026-27. On Virginia’s School Performance and Support Framework it scored 87.35 and is rated Meets Expectations, according to the state’s School Quality Profiles.
Which high school does Independence Middle feed into?
Most of its zone is in the Princess Anne High zone, with parts in Bayside High, on the division’s 2026-27 maps, so it depends on the street. Check an address in the VBCPS School Locator.
What time does Independence Middle start?
Students attend from 9:25 a.m. to 4:05 p.m., according to the division’s school hours page.
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