May Valley Elementary School, Martin KY

Original Research by School Decision on May Valley Elementary School

May Valley Elementary School serves students from preschool through eighth grade in Martin, a small Appalachian town in Floyd County, Kentucky. The school is a regular public school and part of the Floyd County district. It is not a charter or magnet school. With a grade span that covers both elementary and middle school years, it is the kind of school where a child could spend a decade of their education in one building.

Academically, May Valley posts results that are mixed when viewed across subjects and grade levels. In math, across grades three through eight, about half of students met the state’s proficient or distinguished benchmarks in the most recent testing cycle. Reading and English language arts results were similar, with roughly half to slightly more than half of students reaching proficiency in most grades. Performance in social studies hovered in a comparable range. The one subject where the numbers drop noticeably is seventh-grade science, where proficiency was much lower than in other subjects and grades. A parent moving into the area may want to ask the school about science instruction in the middle grades. No high school courses or graduation data apply here, since the school ends at eighth grade. The school’s overall assessment results could not be compared to other Floyd County schools because the county has too few districts for a meaningful local benchmark.

The student body is predominantly white, with very small numbers of Black, Hispanic, and multiracial students represented. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the broader economic conditions of the community. Martin itself is a very small town with a history rooted in coal mining and a population that has been declining over recent decades. Poverty rates are high, and the housing market is very affordable by both state and national standards. The town has undergone a major federal flood-reduction project that relocated many public buildings, including school facilities, to higher ground away from Beaver Creek. This means the school site and the town’s civic core are not in a traditional downtown but rather on redeveloped land above the floodplain.

We looked for information on program offerings, such as art, music, career pathways, or advanced coursework, but found little publicly available detail. Families who want to know what enrichment or support programs exist should contact the school directly. Similarly, the district’s recent strategic priorities or any bond referendums were not surfaced in available records, so that context is absent from this account. Discipline data, chronic absenteeism figures, and staffing ratios were also not reported in the data we had.

The school environment is shaped by the town’s small scale and its economic challenges. Street life is minimal, and the built environment is low-density. There is no public transit system in Martin, and the main roads connect to nearby towns along state highways. For parents considering this school, the primary academic landscape is one where a solid core of students meets state expectations in math and reading, while science and social studies show more variability. The school’s size is modest, offering the potential for a close-knit experience across the PK through eight grade span. The combination of high poverty, a declining local population, and limited public amenities outside of school means that a family’s decision will likely hinge on the school itself and the practical considerations of living in a remote, economically stressed Appalachian community.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 354%

School 54% · District 36% · ▲ 18 pts above district

▲ 11 pts above state median

Grade 452%

School 52% · District 35% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 7 pts above state median

Grade 553%

School 53% · District 27% · ▲ 26 pts above district

▲ 11 pts above state median

Grade 656%

School 56% · District 29% · ▲ 27 pts above district

▲ 14 pts above state median

Grade 758%

School 58% · District 33% · ▲ 25 pts above district

▲ 15 pts above state median

Grade 847%

School 47% · District 30% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 6 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 350%

School 50% · District 37% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▲ 3 pts above state median

Grade 454%

School 54% · District 44% · ▲ 10 pts above district

▲ 4 pts above state median

Grade 559%

School 59% · District 43% · ▲ 16 pts above district

▲ 8 pts above state median

Grade 664%

School 64% · District 47% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 10 pts above state median

Grade 765%

School 65% · District 46% · ▲ 19 pts above district

▲ 16 pts above state median

Grade 851%

School 51% · District 37% · ▲ 14 pts above district

▲ 9 pts above state median

Science

Grade 448%

School 48% · District 32% · ▲ 16 pts above district

▲ 10 pts above state median

Grade 721%

School 21% · District 20% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▼ 9 pts below state median

Social studies

Grade 539%

School 39% · District 30% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 1 pts above state median

Grade 849%

School 49% · District 38% · ▲ 11 pts above district

▲ 11 pts above state median

This schoolFloyd 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 4Lower-income47%Higher-income75%28 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income52%Higher-income75%23 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income37%Higher-income85%48 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income45%Higher-income69%24 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income54%Higher-income69%15 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income30%Higher-income85%55 pp gap