The top reported proficiency rate is 61% in English language arts. The lowest is 49% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Paint Lick Elementary School
Paint Lick Elementary School is a regular public school in the small, unincorporated rural community of Paint Lick, Kentucky, serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade within the Garrard County district. The school sits along the old highway corridor among historic churches and a post office, part of a community where the built environment is sparse and automobile travel is the norm. Publicly reported, a new route of KY 52 was opened in a recent year, rerouting through-traffic away from the town and reinforcing its already quiet character.
For a school that serves only early and elementary grades, state testing results offer a mixed picture. In math, roughly half of students scored at proficient or above across grades three through five, with the highest share in fifth grade. English language arts results were stronger, with a clear majority meeting proficiency in third and fifth grades, while fourth grade results were closer to the midpoint. Social studies, tested only in grade five, showed about half of students reaching proficiency. Science results for grade four were suppressed, so no public assessment data is available for that subject. Parents may want to follow up with the school directly to understand how reading and math instruction supports students who are not yet proficient, particularly in the middle elementary years.
The school enrolls a small student population for its grade band, and the student body is overwhelmingly white, with very small shares of Hispanic, Black, Asian, and multiracial students. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that the school serves a community with modest household incomes. Home values in the area are slightly above the state median, and the cost of housing is relatively affordable compared to national benchmarks, though the local economy offers limited employment opportunities within the town itself; many residents likely commute to nearby Lancaster or other communities for work.
The Garrard County district, which operates this school, did not have any recent strategic or operational changes publicly available, so the district context is essentially stable or unremarked upon. The community itself has a small population, and its most notable recent infrastructure event was the highway bypass, which further quieted the town center. There are no major private employers or new housing developments identified in publicly available sources.
For a family considering this school, the setting is deeply rural and low-key. The academic peer environment is small and homogeneous, and the school's assessment results suggest areas of relative strength in reading alongside more uneven math performance. The school does not offer high school pathways because it ends at fifth grade; students would move on to a middle school within the same district. The combination of a small school, a rural location, and a community with modest resources means that the experience is likely very different from suburban or urban elementary schools. Parents who value a close-knit, low-structure environment and are comfortable with a longer drive for services and employment may find the fit appropriate, while those seeking a more demographically diverse or academically accelerated elementary setting may want to look further into how the school addresses students below proficiency.
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