The top reported proficiency rate is 38% in English language arts. The lowest is 20% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Raceland-worthington High School
Raceland-Worthington High School serves grades nine through twelve as a regular public high school within the Raceland-Worthington Independent School District. The high school is one of three district schools located inside the small Ohio River valley city of Raceland, a modest residential community with a historic industrial anchor in the Raceland Car Shop, a railway repair facility now owned by Progress Rail. The high school building sits within a residential area of the city rather than on a separated campus, and it draws students from both Raceland and the neighboring city of Worthington.
The student body is small for a high school and is overwhelmingly white, with a very small share of students who identify as Hispanic, Black, Asian, or multiracial. Roughly half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a rate that aligns with the mix of health care, retail, and manufacturing employment that supports the local economy. State testing data was reported for eighth-grade students, which is the grade just before entry into the high school. The results show that in math, about one in five students scored at the proficient level or above, and in reading and language arts, just under two in five students reached that bar. In social studies, the share was also in the range of a little more than a third of students proficient. These proficiency rates place the school in the bottom quartile among the three school districts in Greenup County on an overall proficiency index that averages results across tested subjects and grades. A parent may want to ask the school about specific interventions and supports for students who arrive below grade-level benchmarks.
The school’s graduation rate was not available in the data we looked at, so we cannot speak to how many students who start ninth grade complete a diploma within four years. Likewise, information on chronic absenteeism, discipline rates, course access, and staffing ratios were missing from this profile. A family considering this high school will want to ask the school directly about college and career advising, course pathways, and how the school supports the transition from middle school into the upper grades.
The housing market in the area is relatively affordable compared to national benchmarks, with a modest recent decline in home values and a lower median property value than the state average. The community itself is car-dependent. Most residents drive alone to work, and US Route 23 runs through town as the main corridor connecting Raceland to Ashland and Portsmouth, Ohio. The downtown area is small, with a community center on Chinn Street that serves as a civic gathering place. Population has been stable with a slight decline over the past decade, and there has been minimal recent annexation activity and no major identified new housing developments.
For families already living in the district, the high school is the only option for grades nine through twelve. The feeder pattern is clear: students move from Campbell Elementary through Raceland-Worthington Middle School and then to this high school. The district did not appear to have recently undertaken any major academic or operational changes that were publicly reported, so the current profile reflects a relatively steady state. A parent considering a move into the area should know that this is a small high school in a small, stable community where the academic results on state assessments are below county averages, and where the broader economic context is one of modest industrial and service-sector employment with affordable housing.
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