The top reported proficiency rate is 64% in Math. The lowest is 44% in Social studies.
Original Research by School Decision on Star Elementary School
Star Elementary School sits in the unincorporated community of Rush, a rural pocket split between Boyd and Carter counties in the Huntington–Ashland metropolitan area. This is a small school serving prekindergarten through fifth grade, and it is the only regular public elementary school in that part of Carter County. The setting is farmland and scattered residences along US 60 near I-64, a car-dependent landscape with no traditional downtown. Families in this area often look to Grayson or Ashland for services and employment, and the local economy has long been tied to coal mining and manufacturing.
The school itself is small. Its enrollment is concentrated in the early grades and tapers as students get older, with prekindergarten through second grade each having a modest number of children and third through fifth grade each having fewer still. Racially, the student body is almost entirely white, with negligible representation from other racial or ethnic groups. A substantial share of students qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic circumstances common to the area; median household income in the community is low.
On state assessment results, the picture is mixed and worth a close look. In third-grade math, a strong majority of students scored at the proficient level or above. In fourth-grade math the share was still solid but lower. By fifth-grade math, fewer than half of students met that bar. In reading, the pattern is different: third graders showed moderate proficiency, fourth graders dropped noticeably, and fifth graders bounced back to a level that was again a sound majority. Science results for fourth grade were suppressed and not reported here, which can happen when the tested group is small. In fifth-grade social studies, fewer than half of students were proficient. A parent considering this school would want to discuss with the staff how math and reading instruction changes between grade levels and what supports are in place for students who are not meeting proficiency as they move through the upper elementary years.
Because the school serves only elementary grades, there are no high school outcomes such as a graduation rate to report here. This is neither a strength nor a weakness; it simply reflects the grade band. Students will move on to a middle and high school elsewhere in the district, so a family living in this attendance zone will need to consider the full Carter County pathway through the upper grades.
The comparison data that would place Star Elementary among other districts in Carter County could not be used, because there was only one district in that comparison set. That means the state assessment results above are best read against the Kentucky statewide context rather than a local benchmark. The district itself, Carter County, showed no major recent changes or strategic initiatives in the publicly available record, so there is little to report on district-level direction.
For a family looking at this school, the main considerations are not controversial. Star Elementary is a small, rural, majority-low-income school where proficiency rates vary sharply by subject and grade. The strongest result is third-grade math. The weakest is fifth-grade math, and fourth-grade reading is also a soft spot. The school does not appear to have program data such as course offerings or staffing ratios available in the material reviewed. A parent who values a small, close-knit rural setting will find that here. A parent who wants to see consistently strong test performance across all grades and subjects will want to ask the school directly about its plans for the grades where proficiency lags.
See more original research from School Decision →