Red Cross Elementary School, Glasgow KY

Original Research by School Decision on Red Cross Elementary School

Red Cross Elementary School sits within the Glasgow city limits, in Barren County, Kentucky. It is a regular public school in the Barren County district, serving students from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade. The school is located in a community where the housing market is moderately priced compared to national standards, with modest growth underway. A major manufacturing investment has been publicly reported for Glasgow, expected to bring new jobs, which signals potential demographic shifts in the years ahead.

The student body is predominantly white, with small shares of students identified as two or more races, Hispanic, Black, and Asian. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a lower-income population at the school. The school itself is a neighborhood elementary, not a magnet or charter, and while the Title I status was not reported, the economic profile is consistent with a school that receives such support.

Academically, Red Cross Elementary presents a picture that parents will want to examine closely. On the Kentucky Summative Assessment, the school’s overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades places it in the top quartile relative to other districts in Barren County. That broad comparison is encouraging. However, the grade-by-grade results show real variation. In both math and English language arts, third and fourth grade proficiency rates lag behind those in fifth and sixth grade. For example, math proficiency rises from a rate that concerns many families in the early tested grades to a markedly higher one by sixth grade. A similar upward pattern is visible in reading and writing. Fourth grade science proficiency is at a lower rate, while fifth grade social studies proficiency sits in between.

The upward trend by grade is a notable feature of this school. A parent may want to ask whether this pattern reflects a strong upper-grade teaching team, a curriculum that builds skills over time, or a cohort effect specific to the group tested. It is also fair to ask how the school supports students who are not yet meeting the proficiency bar in the earlier grades. The data does not include information on how student subgroups, such as English learners or students with disabilities, perform, so a parent with a child who may need additional support should seek that directly from the school.

Because Red Cross Elementary serves only through sixth grade, there is no high school graduation rate to report. This is not a gap in the school’s performance; it simply reflects the grade band. The school also had no chronic absenteeism or staffing data available in the material reviewed.

No recent district-level changes, such as policy shifts or tax measures, were found in a search of public reports. Similarly, no information on program offerings, such as gifted or intervention programs, was provided. Families interested in specialized academic tracks or extracurriculars should confirm directly with the school what is available.

Overall, Red Cross Elementary is a school where a family can expect academic performance that, at its best, ranks well in the county, but with uneven results across grade levels in the core subjects of math and reading. The community context is one of a small city with a stable, modest cost of living and incoming industrial investment that may reshape the local economy. For a family trying to decide if this school fits, the central question is how the school explains and addresses the jump in student outcomes between the earlier and later elementary grades.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 345%

School 45% · District 38% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 429%

School 29% · District 39% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Grade 554%

School 54% · District 48% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 661%

School 61% · District 56% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 19 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 342%

School 42% · District 39% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 451%

School 51% · District 46% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

Grade 564%

School 64% · District 47% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▲ 21 pts above county median

Grade 662%

School 62% · District 58% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 8 pts above state median

Science

Grade 438%

School 38% · District 36% · ▲ 2 pts above district

even with state median

Social studies

Grade 546%

School 46% · District 38% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

This schoolBarren County, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income34%Higher-income56%22 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income48%Higher-income57%9 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income58%Higher-income74%16 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income56%Higher-income69%13 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income39%Higher-income56%17 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income48%Higher-income65%17 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income51%Higher-income72%21 pp gap