T-L Photo/JOSIE BURKHART St. Clairsville Middle School ranks No. 191 out of 79,000 schools in U.S. News & World Report for best middle schools. Sharon Pastor’s sixth grade math class plays a part in the success with students focusing on their academics.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — St. Clairsville Middle School ranked No. 191 out of 79,000 facilities considered by U.S. News & World Report.

This ranking places St. Clairsville among the 2025 best middle schools and came as a pleasant surprise to the staff of the St. Clairsville-Richland City School District on Dec. 13. The schools are ranked at the state and district levels.

“We are incredibly proud of this recognition, as it reflects the hard work and dedication of our students, staff and families,” middle school Principal Mike McKeever said. “This ranking highlights our commitment to providing a strong educational foundation that supports every student’s success in and out of the classroom.”

This recognition is not something the school applied for but rather is the result of an analysis of state assessments of students who are proficient or better in mathematics and reading/language arts. It considers students’ backgrounds, achievement in core subjects and how well schools are educating their students. Student-teacher ratios are applied to break ties in the overall score.

“That’s one of the beautiful things about this is that it is not something that we sought or something that we applied for,” McKeever said. “It actually was something that U.S. News and World Report went out and they looked at data from schools all across the country, and according to their rubric or their criteria, we fell into that category and got that distinction from 79,000 other elementaries and middle schools. We were 191, so it was really cool the way that it worked out.”

McKeever said he’s felt that in his 16 years at St. Clairsville, he has always had a tremendous staff. He described it as having a team concept among the teachers. The teachers truly care about the students, he said, not only educationally but in personal ways, too.

He added that the staff has high expectations, reflecting the community’s high expectations of the school system. So, to McKeever, it feels like the community received the recognition, too. Not only does the community have high expectations, but McKeever has high expectations of his teachers and the teachers of their students.

“We just feel really, really proud, really good about this, and we just think it’s great for our community, too,” McKeever said.

The students work hard, he said, putting importance on education and academics along with their parents. He described the school system and community as “second to none.”

Wednesday was St. Clairsville schools’ first day back from Christmas break and a couple snow days, so McKeever just broke the news of this accomplishment to the students during the morning announcements and told the teachers in an email as well.

McKeever shared the news on social media and said it’s been very well received through the community. He wanted to get the news out there and let people know the middle school is a great place.

Superintendent Walter Skaggs said the district will continue to move forward and take the steps needed to give students every opportunity to be successful.

The district is very blessed in regards to the supportive community, parents and staff who do so much for the students, he added.

McKeever wanted to note how the elementary school plays a role in this recognition because those teachers are getting the students ready for middle school, and he said the high school is great, too.

Skaggs described McKeever and Assistant Superintendent Christina Laudermilt as playing vital roles in the district, contributing to its success.

Skaggs, McKeever and Laudermilt described the ranking as even more rewarding since they didn’t see it coming.

“We were kind of like, ‘Is this for real?’ Is this really happening?’ We had to look into

it a little bit just to make sure it was real,” Laudermilt said. “Which is even more rewarding, though, an amazing accomplishment.”