Hacker Elementary School, Manchester KY

Original Research by School Decision on Hacker Elementary School

Hacker Elementary School serves children from preschool through sixth grade in Manchester, the Clay County seat in southeastern Kentucky. The school is one of several elementaries in the Clay County district and sits on Hooker Road, a rural road outside the compact downtown core. Manchester is a small, car-dependent county seat with a federal prison as one of its notable employers, and the town’s population has been declining in recent years, a trend that families moving to the area will encounter.

The student body at Hacker Elementary is almost entirely white, with a very small number of Hispanic students and students of two or more races. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which places the school in a context where economic need is a significant factor. The school serves grades PK through 6, and its enrollment is modest for that grade band. The district recently reorganized elementary boundaries and closed a smaller school, which may affect which families are assigned here.

On Kentucky’s state assessments, Hacker Elementary shows a clear upward pattern in both reading and math as students progress through the grades. In third grade, reading proficiency is in a moderate range, and by sixth grade it reaches a higher level, with a strong majority of students scoring proficient or above. Math follows a similar trajectory, starting lower in third grade and rising through sixth, where a slim majority meets the bar. This trend suggests that the school may be effective at developing skills over time, particularly in reading, where the sixth-grade results are a clear strength. Science results are available only for fourth grade, and those are low, which is a soft spot a parent may want to discuss with the school to understand how science instruction is structured and supported. Social studies in fifth grade sits in a moderate range.

Because Hacker Elementary serves only elementary and middle grades, there is no graduation rate to consider, and no data on chronic absenteeism or advanced coursework was available for this school. The comparison set that would normally position Hacker among its county’s districts could not be calculated, as Clay County has only one district, making a district-level comparison uninformative.

The neighborhood around the school is rural and low-density, consistent with much of Clay County. Housing values in the area are well below state and national benchmarks, and the local economy offers limited major employers beyond the prison, city government, and water works. Families considering a move to Manchester should expect a quiet, small-town setting with modest housing costs and a declining population base.

For a family, Hacker Elementary offers a stable, small elementary experience in a rural Appalachian setting. The upward trend in reading and math through the grades is a positive indicator, though the early-grade results and fourth-grade science scores are areas where a parent would want to ask questions about curriculum and intervention. The school’s composition is homogenous, and the economic profile of the student body suggests that many families face financial constraints. The district’s recent boundary changes may be relevant for families choosing where to live within the county.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 338%

School 38% · District 58% · ▼ 20 pts below district

▼ 5 pts below state median

Grade 450%

School 50% · District 66% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▲ 5 pts above state median

Grade 541%

School 41% · District 52% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 1 pts below state median

Grade 654%

School 54% · District 69% · ▼ 15 pts below district

▲ 12 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 362%

School 62% · District 70% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▲ 15 pts above state median

Grade 462%

School 62% · District 66% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▲ 12 pts above state median

Grade 566%

School 66% · District 71% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▲ 15 pts above state median

Grade 679%

School 79% · District 74% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 25 pts above state median

Science

Grade 426%

School 26% · District 49% · ▼ 23 pts below district

▼ 12 pts below state median

Social studies

Grade 552%

School 52% · District 59% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▲ 14 pts above state median

This schoolClay 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-income57%Higher-income75%18 pp gap