Porter Elementary School, Hagerhill KY

Original Research by School Decision on Porter Elementary School

Porter Elementary School serves the rural community of Hagerhill in Johnson County, Kentucky, from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade. It is a regular public school within the Johnson County school district. The student body is overwhelmingly white, and more than half of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, indicating a school community with substantial economic need. The enrollment is small for its grade band, and the school sits in an unincorporated area with no downtown core, where housing costs are low relative to state and national averages. The local housing market has seen a recent dip in values, and the population in the broader area appears to be in a slow decline.

Academically, Porter Elementary shows a mixed but generally solid picture on the Kentucky Summative Assessment. In math, proficiency across grades three through six is consistently above the midpoint, with the fourth-grade cohort having the strongest results. English language arts performance is also respectable, with the sixth-grade cohort reaching the highest proficiency rate among the tested grades. These figures place the school comfortably ahead of the other elementary school in Johnson County when looking at a combined proficiency index, landing in the top quartile of the county’s districts. This is a meaningful strength given that the county has only two districts to compare against.

In science, the state suppressed the fourth-grade proficiency data, so no clear result is available for that subject. In social studies, assessed in fifth grade, the proficiency rate is lower than the school’s math and reading results. A parent may want to ask the school about its approach to social studies instruction, as the outcome in that subject is a relative soft spot.

Because the school serves only through sixth grade, there is no graduation rate to report, and no chronic absenteeism data is available in the provided information. The district brief turned up no recent major changes or initiatives that would affect day-to-day operations for families.

The setting is decidedly rural. Hagerhill has no walkable commercial district; the school, a private Catholic high school, and a community college campus are scattered along the highway. Most high school students from the area commute to Johnson Central High School or Paintsville High School in the county seat. The nearest public library and typical retail services are a short drive north to Paintsville. Recreation is available at the Dawkins Line Rail Trail trailhead located in the community. There is no public transit.

For a family considering Porter Elementary, the takeaway is this: it is a small, rural elementary school in a low-cost, slow-growth area with academic performance that outpaces the other local elementary option in most tested subjects, though social studies results are weaker. The school does not serve high school grades, so middle and high school transitions will involve a move to another campus. The community is quiet and spread out, with few commercial amenities within the immediate area. A family that values a small, rural school with reasonably strong foundational academics and is comfortable with longer drives for services and secondary education would likely find a good fit here.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 362%

School 62% · District 48% · ▲ 14 pts above district

▲ 19 pts above state median

Grade 478%

School 78% · District 56% · ▲ 22 pts above district

▲ 33 pts above state median

Grade 563%

School 63% · District 53% · ▲ 10 pts above district

▲ 21 pts above state median

Grade 667%

School 67% · District 58% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 25 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 362%

School 62% · District 56% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 15 pts above state median

Grade 463%

School 63% · District 58% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 13 pts above state median

Grade 570%

School 70% · District 62% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▲ 19 pts above state median

Grade 677%

School 77% · District 69% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▲ 23 pts above state median

Social studies

Grade 556%

School 56% · District 51% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 18 pts above state median

This schoolJohnson 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-income59%Higher-income69%10 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income59%Higher-income69%10 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income67%Higher-income90%23 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income67%Higher-income68%1 pp gap