The top reported proficiency rate is 47% in English language arts. The lowest is 21% in Social studies.
Original Research by School Decision on Mary A. Goetz Elementary School
Mary A. Goetz Elementary School serves the small Ohio River city of Ludlow, Kentucky, as the sole elementary school within the Ludlow Independent School District. It enrolls students from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade, making it the only public elementary option for families in this compact, historically rooted suburb of Cincinnati. The school building sits on Oak Street, integrated into the town’s traditional grid of residential streets.
Ludlow itself is a place of modest scale and deep local history. It grew around railroad jobs in the late nineteenth century, attracting German and Irish immigrants, and its population peaked during the post-war Baby Boom before entering a long, gradual decline that continues in the present. The city government has made minor housing improvements in recent years, but no large-scale growth or new development is reshaping the community. For a family considering Goetz Elementary, this means a stable, slow-changing setting, not a fast-growing exurb. The community is compact and walkable by Kentucky standards, and it sits minutes from downtown Cincinnati, though specific data on parks, transit, or a downtown core relative to the school campus was not readily available from public sources.
The student body at Goetz is predominantly white, with a notable share of students identifying as two or more races and a smaller Hispanic presence. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that the school serves a population with above-average economic need among its families. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available, so a parent with a child in either category may want to ask the school directly about supports and services.
Academically, Goetz Elementary’s state testing results present a mixed profile. In reading and language arts, proficiency rates across grades three through six vary. One grade level posted a rate that was the school’s strongest, while others were closer to half of students meeting the bar or slightly below that mark. In mathematics, the pattern is similarly uneven: one grade level showed a rate that was the school’s highest, but another grade level fell to roughly a third of students proficient, and a different grade level was even lower. Science results for fourth grade, where tested, were in the middle range of the school’s subject outcomes. Social studies for fifth grade was a notably soft spot, with a small share of students reaching proficiency, making it the weakest subject area in the available data. Because the school serves only through sixth grade, there is no graduation rate to report.
When placed alongside other school districts in Kenton County, Goetz Elementary sits above the midpoint in overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades. This suggests that while the school is not among the highest-performing in the county, it is performing measurably better than the lower end of the local range. A parent should note, however, that the gap between the strongest and weakest subjects within the school itself is wide, and the school’s overall position relative to the county could be driven by its stronger grade-level results.
The district brief found little to report on recent changes within the Ludlow Independent school system. There were no major initiatives, boundary shifts, or leadership changes captured in publicly available material. This absence may itself be meaningful: families moving into the area are unlikely to encounter sudden program upheavals or reorganization.
For a family deciding whether Goetz Elementary fits, the picture is directional. The school operates in a small, stable, economically modest community with a long history and a slow pace of change. Its academic profile shows genuine strengths in certain grades and subjects, alongside clear soft spots that a parent would want to discuss with the school, particularly in mathematics at some grade levels and in social studies. The school’s relative standing among Kenton County districts is solidly mid-tier rather than standout. The absence of special-population or discipline data means a full picture requires a conversation with the school itself. For a family that values a small-town, established setting and is prepared to engage around academic variability from grade to grade, Goetz Elementary presents a known quantity in a community that is not in rapid flux.
See more original research from School Decision →