| School | Grades | GreatSchools rating |
|---|---|---|
| W.T. Cooke Elementary School | PK-5 | 7/10 |
| Virginia Beach Middle School | 6-8 | 7/10 |
| First Colonial High School | 9-12 | 6/10 |
Ratings from GreatSchools.org, checked Sept 2026. Ratings change, and school zones vary by address — always confirm the assigned schools with Chesapeake Public Schools.
Virginia Beach City Public Schools Zoning
Shadowlawn is part of Virginia Beach City Public Schools, and homes in the neighborhood are generally zoned to W.T. Cooke Elementary, rated 7 out of 10 on GreatSchools [1](https://www.greatschools.org/virginia/virginia-beach/1795-W.T.-Cooke-Elementary-School/); Virginia Beach Middle School, rated 7 out of 10 on GreatSchools [2](https://www.greatschools.org/virginia/virginia-beach/1793-Virginia-Beach-Middle-School/); and First Colonial High School, rated 6 out of 10 on GreatSchools [3](https://www.greatschools.org/virginia/virginia-beach/1758-First-Colonial-High-School/).
Because attendance zones are drawn address by address and can shift, I always tell buyers to confirm the exact zoning for a specific property using the division's official [school locator](https://www.vbschools.com/families/registration/schoollocator) or by calling VBCPS directly before assuming which schools a home feeds into.
W.T. Cooke Elementary serves the early grades for most of Shadowlawn, feeding into Virginia Beach Middle School for grades six through eight before students move on to First Colonial High School. This is the general pattern for the neighborhood, but exact boundaries can vary by street and even by side of the street in some cases.
What Families Should Know
First Colonial High School serves a large swath of northeastern Virginia Beach, including several Oceanfront-adjacent neighborhoods, and offers the broader course catalog and activities you'd expect from one of the city's established high schools.
If school assignment is a top priority in your search, tell me early. I'll pull the current zoning for any specific address you're considering, and I always recommend touring or researching a school independently rather than relying solely on a neighborhood's general reputation.
Virginia Beach Middle School draws students from a wide catchment area that includes several neighborhoods near the Oceanfront, giving kids from Shadowlawn a chance to build friendships that carry through to First Colonial High School. Families relocating from out of state often ask me how VBCPS compares to what they're used to, and I always point them toward touring the specific schools and reviewing current division data rather than relying only on general reputation or older reviews.
These GreatSchools ratings are current as of this writing, but ratings can change from year to year, so I'd still recommend checking current ratings and reviews directly on GreatSchools.org and the VBCPS website as part of your own research.
Confirm Before You Commit
School boundaries can change from year to year, and a home a block or two away can sometimes fall into a different attendance zone. Before you write an offer with a particular school in mind, verify zoning directly with Virginia Beach City Public Schools for that address.
For more on the neighborhood itself, see my Shadowlawn buying guide and Shadowlawn selling guide, or browse the broader Virginia Beach market.
