Daniel Morgan Middle, Winchester: zone, report card and calendar

Last checked Oct. 20, 2026. Sources: Daniel Morgan Middle, Winchester Public Schools, the Virginia Department of Education’s School Quality Profile and the federal NCES school directory.

Daniel Morgan Middle School serves seventh and eighth grade at 48 S. Purcell Ave. for Winchester Public Schools (WPS). It is the division’s only middle school, so every seventh and eighth grader who lives in the city is zoned for it. It had 622 students in fall 2025, the state’s count shows.

The building also houses Daniel Morgan Intermediate for fifth and sixth grade. The two have been separate schools, with their own leaders, since the 2017-18 school year, according to the school’s about page. The building opened in 1974 and gained a separate wing in a 2003-04 renovation.

Who to call

• Front office: 540-667-7171, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday
• Registering a new student: the division’s registration page, or Central Office at 598 N. Kent St., 540-667-4253
• Which school is my address zoned for? the division’s WebQuery school and bus stop lookup
• Buses: the Transportation office; bus stops are in WebQuery

Principal

Principal Lisa Pluska, according to the school’s website. The page says she was previously an assistant principal at Daniel Morgan Intermediate and Virginia Avenue Charlotte DeHart Elementary.

Enrollment and teachers

• State count: 622 students in fall 2025, compared with 642 in fall 2024 and 589 in fall 2023, according to the School Quality Profile. Fall 2025 broke down as 285 in seventh grade and 337 in eighth grade.
• Federal count: 589 students in the 2023-24 school year, with 29 full-time-equivalent teachers, according to the NCES directory. That works out to about 20 students per teacher.

State report card

Virginia rates schools two ways. Accreditation means a school “submitted all required evidence to the Department of Education as prescribed in the Standards of Accreditation,” in the words of the state profile. The School Performance and Support Framework gives each school a score and one of four performance levels: Distinguished, Meets Expectations, Approaching Expectations and Needs Intensive Support.

• Accreditation: Fully Accredited, the state’s designation for the 2025-26 school year.
• Framework score: 81.83, performance level Approaching Expectations, in the state’s division summary.

Standards of Learning pass rates (share of tested students who passed, all tests in the subject):

The full profile also reports attendance, student groups, teacher data and spending.

Attendance zone and feeder schools

The whole city is one middle school zone. Students come up from Daniel Morgan Intermediate, which takes fifth and sixth graders from all four elementary schools, and go on to John Handley High, according to the division’s list of schools.

The zone stops at the city line: homes with a Winchester mailing address in ZIP codes 22602 and 22603 are in Frederick County, which runs its own schools. Confirm an address in WebQuery, and check the division’s walk zone maps if you live nearby.

Calendar and bell times

From the division’s 2026-27 calendar:

• Tuesday, Nov. 3: teacher professional development day
• Nov. 25-27: fall break
• Friday, Dec. 18: end of the first semester, holiday early release
• Dec. 21 to Jan. 1: winter break; Monday, Jan. 4, is a teacher professional development day
• Monday, Jan. 18: division holiday
• March 26 and March 29 to April 2: spring break
• Friday, May 28: last day of school, early release

The calendar sets the school day at 8:25 a.m. to 3:20 p.m. and asks students to arrive by 8:15 a.m. The school’s page lists parent drop-off from 8 to 8:15 a.m., the tardy bell at 8:25 a.m. and pickup at 3:20 p.m. Its bell schedule sets out the four daily blocks and lunch times for each grade.

Sports and activities

Daniel Morgan Middle plays in the Northern Valley Junior League with Johnson-Williams, Skyline and Warren County middle schools, according to the division’s middle school athletics page. The teams:

• Fall: girls basketball, cheerleading, cross country and football
• Winter: boys basketball, cheerleading, volleyball and wrestling
• Spring: track and field; eighth graders may also play on Handley’s junior varsity baseball, soccer, softball and tennis teams

Athletic director: Jacob Houser, 540-667-7171, ext. 75150, according to the school’s athletics page. A sports physical is needed before tryouts.

The school’s about page names project-based learning, an advanced math curriculum, several world languages and free after-school clubs with transportation, including robotics and a running club.

More on Winchester schools

• The school’s website and its state School Quality Profile
• Every public school in Winchester
• Our Winchester schools guide for registration documents and School Board meetings
• Our neighborhoods guide

Frequently asked questions

What grades does Daniel Morgan Middle serve?

Seventh and eighth grade. Fifth and sixth graders attend Daniel Morgan Intermediate, a separate school in the same building. Daniel Morgan Middle had 622 students in fall 2025, the state’s count shows.

How is Daniel Morgan Middle rated by the state?

It is fully accredited for 2025-26. On Virginia’s School Performance and Support Framework it scored 81.83 and is rated Approaching Expectations, according to the state’s School Quality Profiles.

Which high school does Daniel Morgan Middle feed into?

John Handley High School, the only high school in Winchester Public Schools.

What time does Daniel Morgan Middle start?

The school day runs from 8:25 a.m. to 3:20 p.m., and students should arrive by 8:15 a.m., according to the division’s 2026-27 calendar.