Country Heights Elementary School, Owensboro KY

Original Research by School Decision on Country Heights Elementary School

Country Heights Elementary School is a regular public school in Daviess County, serving students from prekindergarten through fifth grade. It is part of the Daviess County Public Schools district, one of two separate K-12 systems that together cover Owensboro and the surrounding county area. The school is located on Kentucky 54, on the outskirts of Owensboro, a mid-sized city that functions as the county seat and a regional hub for manufacturing, healthcare, and riverfront cultural life. Owensboro’s economy blends bourbon distilleries, steel and aluminum production, and a large hospital system with a tourism sector tied to barbecue festivals and bluegrass music.

The school’s enrollment is mid-sized for an elementary school and is predominantly white, with a notable share of students from other backgrounds, including small numbers of Hispanic, multiracial, Asian, and Black students. Just under half of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, a share that suggests a moderate level of economic diversity among the families served. Information on the share of students with disabilities or English learner status was not available in the data reviewed, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about the support structures in place for those populations.

On state assessments administered in the 2024-25 school year, Country Heights posted a range of proficiency rates across grades and subjects. In mathematics, the share of students scoring proficient or above rose steadily from third grade through fifth grade, with the fifth-grade cohort showing a notably stronger result. In English language arts, a similar upward pattern appeared: third-grade proficiency was in a lower range, fourth grade landed around the midpoint, and fifth grade again finished higher. Science results for fourth graders and social studies results for fifth graders both fell near the midpoint of the possible range. Across all tested subjects and grades, the school’s overall proficiency index placed it above the other district in Daviess County, a fact that positions it comparatively well within the county’s small public school landscape.

Because Country Heights serves only elementary grades, there is no graduation rate or high school outcome data to report. Chronic absenteeism data was also absent from the available record. For those accustomed to looking at high school metrics, this simply reflects the grade band.

In terms of community context, Owensboro’s housing market has seen modest appreciation in recent years, with typical home values running below the national median but close to Kentucky’s statewide mark. The broader economic picture includes a stable but not booming job market, anchored by major employers in healthcare, banking, manufacturing, and education. The city itself has invested in downtown riverfront redevelopment—Smothers Park, the RiverPark Center, and the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame and Museum are prominent civic anchors—and maintains a modest transit system. No major new housing developments or district-level policy changes were identified through available public sources, so the near-term outlook for the school appears to be one of continuity rather than rapid change.

Country Heights is, in short, an elementary school serving a predominantly white, economically mixed student body in a regional hub city. Its test results show a pattern of improving proficiency as grade levels advance, with overall performance above that of the county’s other district. For a family considering this school, the main open questions involve the special education and English learner resources available and the specific instructional approaches that support the upward trend in later elementary grades.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 340%

School 40% · District 51% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Grade 447%

School 47% · District 47%

▲ 2 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 566%

School 66% · District 53% · ▲ 13 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 344%

School 44% · District 52% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 454%

School 54% · District 54%

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

Grade 565%

School 65% · District 59% · ▲ 6 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 447%

School 47% · District 40% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▲ 9 pts above state median · even with county median

Social studies

Grade 549%

School 49% · District 45% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 8 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-income40%Higher-income48%8 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income41%Higher-income69%28 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income53%Higher-income74%21 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income37%Higher-income43%6 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income35%Higher-income60%25 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income53%Higher-income76%23 pp gap