South Livingston Elementary School, Smithland KY

Original Research by School Decision on South Livingston Elementary School

South Livingston Elementary School serves students from preschool through fifth grade in Smithland, Kentucky, a very small river town at the confluence of the Ohio and Cumberland Rivers that functions as the county seat of Livingston County. The school is part of the Livingston County district and operates as a regular public elementary school in a setting that combines rural character with proximity to the Paducah metropolitan area.

The academic picture comes from the Kentucky Summative Assessment, and it varies notably by subject and grade. In reading and writing, the school shows a pattern of solid to strong performance across the tested grades. Third graders reach proficiency at a rate that represents a clear majority of students. Fourth and fifth graders do even better, with the large majority of students meeting or exceeding the state standard. Mathematics tells a more uneven story. Third graders perform very well, with most students scoring proficient or above. Fourth graders still reach a solid majority, though the share drops noticeably. By fifth grade, however, the proficiency rate falls to a share that is below what many families would hope to see. Science results for fourth graders sit roughly in the middle, with about half of students meeting the standard. Social studies, tested in fifth grade, returns a lower share of proficient students, a pattern similar to the math result at that grade level. Parents may want to follow up with the school on how math and social studies instruction builds across the elementary years, particularly as students approach the transition to middle school.

The student body enrolls a few hundred children, and the grade-by-grade counts suggest consistent cohorts through the elementary span. In terms of demographics, the school serves a population that is overwhelmingly white. More than half of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, a share that indicates a substantial level of economic need. Data on special education and English learner populations were not available.

Smithland itself is a compact town with historic structures and county government facilities. It has a very small population that has been slightly declining in recent years, and housing values are modest relative to state and national benchmarks. The broader Livingston County school district operates the elementary school, and no recent district-level changes, such as boundary adjustments or new programs, were publicly reported. The school's setting is rural and separated from the town's civic core; the high school and likely other district facilities sit outside the immediate town center.

For a family considering this school, the academic profile has clear strengths in reading comprehension at the upper elementary grades and in early mathematics. The weaker fifth-grade math and social studies results are worth exploring. The school provides a small, rural elementary experience in a community with low housing costs and stable if quiet growth. Peer environments will reflect the predominantly white and economically diverse local population.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 381%

School 81% · District 68% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▲ 38 pts above state median

Grade 465%

School 65% · District 50% · ▲ 15 pts above district

▲ 20 pts above state median

Grade 537%

School 37% · District 39% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 5 pts below state median

English language arts

Grade 361%

School 61% · District 56% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 14 pts above state median

Grade 470%

School 70% · District 58% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▲ 20 pts above state median

Grade 574%

School 74% · District 63% · ▲ 11 pts above district

▲ 23 pts above state median

Science

Grade 450%

School 50% · District 39% · ▲ 11 pts above district

▲ 12 pts above state median

Social studies

Grade 541%

School 41% · District 37% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 3 pts above state median

This schoolLivingston 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-income51%Higher-income74%23 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income61%Higher-income78%17 pp gap