F T Burns Elementary School, Owensboro KY

Original Research by School Decision on F T Burns Elementary School

F T Burns Elementary School is a regular public school in Owensboro, Kentucky, serving prekindergarten through fifth grade as part of the Daviess County school district. The school sits within a mid-sized Ohio River city that functions as a regional hub for manufacturing, healthcare, and tourism. The local economy is anchored by an Owensboro health system, distilleries, and industrial employers, and the city has invested in downtown riverfront redevelopment around Smothers Park and the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Owensboro’s housing values and rents have been modestly rising, and the area maintains a lower cost of living relative to national benchmarks.

The school’s enrollment is moderate for an elementary school serving these grades. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, placing the school in a higher-need context within the district. The student body is predominantly white, with a notable share of students who are Hispanic, two or more races, Asian, and Black or African American. The school is a traditional neighborhood elementary school, not a charter or magnet, and it serves a broad attendance area within Owensboro.

On the Kentucky Summative Assessment for the most recent testing year, F T Burns Elementary delivered results that, when averaged across all tested subjects and grades, place it on the stronger side compared to the other district in Daviess County. State testing covers grades three through five, so the school’s academic picture is based on those upper elementary grades. In mathematics, proficiency rates started relatively high at third grade, then gradually declined by fifth grade. In English language arts, the pattern was more stable, with a modest climb from third to fifth grade. Science, tested in fourth grade, showed about half of students proficient or above. Social studies, tested in fifth grade, had a lower proficiency rate relative to the other subjects. The overall trend is one of uneven performance across grade levels and subjects, with math in the early tested grade standing out as a clear strength. A parent considering the school may want to ask how the school supports students who are not yet proficient, especially as they move through the upper elementary grades, and whether there are targeted interventions in the areas where proficiency drops.

Because the school serves only elementary grades, there is no graduation rate, no chronic absenteeism data, and no course access data for high school pathways. The district brief did not surface any recent policy or curriculum changes publicly reported for Daviess County schools, so this narrative cannot speak to any recent shifts in programming, leadership, or facility plans.

The school’s environment and support data were largely absent from the available record. There is no information on staffing, discipline rates, attendance patterns, or special education and English learner populations. A parent with a child who has an individualized education plan or who is learning English may want to contact the school directly to understand what services are available.

Owensboro’s civic and cultural amenities include a downtown riverfront park, a performing arts center, and museums, though these are not specific to the school’s neighborhood. The city has a public transit system and is largely auto-oriented outside the downtown core. The school itself is one of many elementary schools in the Daviess County system, which covers both the city and surrounding county areas, distinct from the separate Owensboro Public Schools district.

In summary, F T Burns Elementary offers a regular elementary program in a mid-sized city with a stable economy and moderate housing costs. Its state test results show a mix of stronger and weaker areas across subjects and grades, with overall proficiency above the county’s other district. The school serves a high-need student body economically, and the available data leaves gaps around staffing and student support that families should explore further to get a full picture.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 374%

School 74% · District 51% · ▲ 23 pts above district

▲ 31 pts above state median · ▲ 27 pts above county median

Grade 458%

School 58% · District 47% · ▲ 11 pts above district

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

Grade 552%

School 52% · District 53% · ▼ 1 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 351%

School 51% · District 52% · ▼ 1 pts below district

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

Grade 453%

School 53% · District 54% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 3 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 555%

School 55% · District 59% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Science

Grade 451%

School 51% · District 40% · ▲ 11 pts above district

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

Social studies

Grade 543%

School 43% · District 45% · ▼ 2 pts below district

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

This schoolDaviess 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-income51%Higher-income53%2 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income49%Higher-income70%21 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income56%Higher-income53%3 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income73%Higher-income80%7 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income58%Higher-income60%2 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income52%Higher-income53%1 pp gap