Phelps Elementary School, Freeburn KY

Original Research by School Decision on Phelps Elementary School

Phelps Elementary School, a regular public school in Pike County, Kentucky, serves from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade. The school is located in Freeburn, a very small unincorporated coal town in the Appalachian region. Freeburn was historically a company coal mining camp built by the Freeburn Coal and Coke Company, later tied to the Portsmouth By-Product Coke Company. With a population that has experienced a notable decline over recent decades, typical of former Appalachian coal towns after mine closures, the community today is primarily a quiet residential setting. The town has no traditional downtown and sits on the Tug Fork at the mouth of Peter Creek, about a 25-mile drive northeast of Pikeville. The built environment reflects its coal camp origins, and current major employers were not identified in available sources. Large-scale local employment is unlikely given the small population.

Enrolled at Phelps are roughly three hundred students. The student body is overwhelmingly white, with a very small number of students who are Black, Hispanic, or of two or more races. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a high level of economic need.

Academic achievement on the Kentucky Summative Assessment showed a mixed profile across tested grades and subjects. In reading, third graders performed at a strong level, fifth graders also performed well, but the sixth grade result was softer. Fourth grade reading results were suppressed, so a full picture for that grade is not available. In math, fourth graders showed a strong result, fifth graders were in the middle range, and third and sixth graders both produced softer results. In social studies, fifth graders performed at a level that may concern some families. Fourth grade science results were suppressed. Overall, across all tested subjects and grades, the school’s proficiency index was above the midpoint when compared to other districts in Pike County, a grouping of two districts. This places the school in the top quartile of that set. Because the school serves only through sixth grade, it does not have a reported graduation rate.

No data on course access, staffing, or attendance was available for review. A parent may want to ask the school directly about class sizes, teacher experience, and any enrichment programs offered. Special population counts for students with disabilities and English learners were not reported. The parent district, Pike County, had no recent, lasting changes identified in publicly reported sources.

The overall offering at Phelps Elementary is that of a small, economically concentrated elementary school serving a community in a historically coal-mining region. The student body is demographically homogeneous, and the economic context is one of high need. Academically, the school produces some strong grade-level results in reading and math, particularly in the upper elementary grades, but also has some grade-level results that are softer and merit attention from prospective families. The setting is rural and car-dependent, with limited commercial or civic infrastructure. Families considering the school should be aware that its strengths and softer spots are visible in the state assessment data, and that direct inquiry with the school is likely necessary to fill in details not present in the available public record.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 353%

School 53% · District 56% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▲ 10 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 486%

School 86% · District 55% · ▲ 31 pts above district

▲ 41 pts above state median · ▲ 23 pts above county median

Grade 563%

School 63% · District 54% · ▲ 9 pts above district

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

Grade 644%

School 44% · District 43% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 375%

School 75% · District 58% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 28 pts above state median · ▲ 20 pts above county median

Grade 582%

School 82% · District 68% · ▲ 14 pts above district

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

Grade 659%

School 59% · District 60% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 568%

School 68% · District 57% · ▲ 11 pts above district

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

This schoolPike 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.