John W. Reiley Elementary School, Alexandria KY

Original Research by School Decision on John W. Reiley Elementary School

John W. Reiley Elementary School serves students from preschool through fifth grade in Alexandria, Kentucky, a mainly residential city that shares county-seat duties with Newport in Campbell County. The school sits in a community that describes itself as where the city meets the country, set on rolling hills about a moderate drive south of Cincinnati. Reiley Elementary is a regular public school within the Campbell County district, and its enrollment is comparatively large for an elementary school serving this grade band. The student body is almost entirely white, with small numbers of students who are Asian, Black, Hispanic, or of two or more races. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the source materials.

On the Kentucky Summative Assessment, Reiley Elementary posted proficiency rates that, when averaged across all tested subjects and grades, place the school in the top quartile among the six districts in Campbell County. This is a strong result. Looking subject by subject, reading and language arts scores are a clear strength. In third grade, a large majority of students scored proficient or above, and in fifth grade the share was similarly high. Fourth-grade reading proficiency was lower, with just over two-thirds of students meeting the bar, a dip worth noting. In mathematics, the pattern was uneven. Fifth graders turned in a strong performance. Third graders also did well, though at a slightly lower rate than in reading. Fourth-grade math was the weakest of the math results, with just over half of students proficient. Science and social studies, each tested in a single grade, landed in a similar range. For a parent, the fourth-grade results in both math and reading stand out as a soft spot relative to the school’s other grades, and it would be reasonable to ask the school how it supports students at that level.

Because Reiley Elementary does not serve high school grades, there is no graduation rate to report. The school environment data, including chronic absenteeism and staffing ratios, was not available in the source materials. The district brief turned up little in the way of recent parent-relevant changes, so this narrative leaves that topic aside rather than guess.

Alexandria itself offers a historic downtown centered on the Old Campbell County Courthouse, a branch of the county public library, and an annual fair and horse show that draws from around the region. The city has a recreation department. Public high school students from Alexandria are zoned to Campbell County High School in Claryville, meaning a family living in town will need to plan for that commute once their child leaves elementary school. The city’s growth has been modest compared to Ohio River towns, and no major new housing developments were identified in the research. Housing values in the area sit above the state benchmark and near the national benchmark, with the typical home price rising moderately over the previous year; rents are somewhat lower than a typical mortgage payment, reflecting a market where buying may be a stretch for some households.

For a parent considering Reiley Elementary, the picture is one of a school that produces strong academic results overall, especially in early elementary reading, but shows a dip in fourth grade that merits a conversation with the school. The student population is not very diverse, and the community is a quiet, suburban-style town with limited growth pressure and a need to travel for high school. The school’s high proficiency index relative to other Campbell County districts is a genuine asset, though the unevenness across grade levels means that a child’s experience may depend on which year they encounter the tougher results.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 364%

School 64% · District 62% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 21 pts above state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

Grade 458%

School 58% · District 56% · ▲ 2 pts above district

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

Grade 573%

School 73% · District 61% · ▲ 12 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 379%

School 79% · District 64% · ▲ 15 pts above district

▲ 32 pts above state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

Grade 467%

School 67% · District 62% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 17 pts above state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Grade 573%

School 73% · District 67% · ▲ 6 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 454%

School 54% · District 46% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▲ 16 pts above state median

Social studies

Grade 555%

School 55% · District 47% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▲ 17 pts above state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

This schoolCampbell 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-income69%Higher-income85%16 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income52%Higher-income80%28 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income53%Higher-income71%18 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income39%Higher-income76%37 pp gap