South Green Elementary School, Glasgow KY

Original Research by School Decision on South Green Elementary School

South Green Elementary School serves students from preschool through fifth grade as part of the Glasgow Independent district in Barren County, Kentucky. The school is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and sits within the city limits of Glasgow, a micropolitan community that acts as the county seat. Glasgow has a historic downtown core, a mix of older residential neighborhoods and newer commercial corridors, and a local economy anchored by manufacturing plants, retail, and healthcare. The city has a municipal cable and internet service that has been a long-standing local asset, and a significant new manufacturing plant was announced recently, pointing to ongoing industrial investment.

The school’s enrollment draws from the surrounding Glasgow neighborhoods. By the numbers that are available, the student body is majority white, with a substantial Hispanic population and smaller shares of Black students and students identifying as two or more races. A large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which indicates that the school serves a population with considerable economic need. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not in the materials provided.

On state assessments, South Green Elementary’s results show a mixed picture that is worth examining grade by grade. In math, the share of students scoring proficient or above was below half in third grade, then rose to just above half in both fourth and fifth grades. In English language arts, the pattern was similar: third grade was just under half proficient, while fourth and fifth grades each landed above that mark. Fourth-grade science proficiency was close to the same level as the upper-grade ELA results, while fifth-grade social studies was just under half proficient. These numbers place the school’s overall proficiency index in the top quartile relative to the other districts within Barren County. That is a strong comparative position for the area, though a parent looking at the raw results will see that in several tested grades and subjects, roughly two out of every five to one out of every two students scored below the proficient threshold. A family may want to ask the school about the supports available for students who are not yet meeting that bar, especially given the high proportion of students from low-income households.

Because South Green is an elementary school serving only through fifth grade, it has no graduation rate to report and no high-school-level program data such as Advanced Placement or dual-credit course access. The district itself has recently made substantial capital investments in facilities, according to publicly reported data, which suggests a commitment to the physical learning environment.

Glasgow is an auto-oriented city with a weekday bus system that provides some transit within city limits. The school is one of several in the Glasgow Independent system, alongside another elementary school, a middle school, and a high school, each on its own campus. The Barren County school district also operates schools within Glasgow city limits, so a family choosing a home within the city will want to confirm which district boundary they fall into.

For a family considering this school, the central considerations are a student body with significant economic diversity, a proficiency profile that is above the county median but still leaves room for improvement in most subjects and grades, and a community setting that is small-city rather than rural or suburban. The school’s comparatively strong showing within Barren County is a point in its favor, though individual grade-level results vary enough that a parent should look at the specific grade their child would enter, particularly the weaker third-grade scores in both math and reading.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 343%

School 43% · District 42% · ▲ 1 pts above district

even with state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

Grade 452%

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

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

Grade 553%

School 53% · District 45% · ▲ 8 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 349%

School 49% · District 47% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Grade 459%

School 59% · District 58% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Grade 557%

School 57% · District 51% · ▲ 6 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 454%

School 54% · District 45% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 16 pts above state median

Social studies

Grade 548%

School 48% · District 38% · ▲ 10 pts above district

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

This schoolGlasgow Independent, 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-income39%Higher-income68%29 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income51%Higher-income72%21 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income42%Higher-income74%32 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income30%Higher-income68%38 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income42%Higher-income72%30 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income40%Higher-income68%28 pp gap