Rockfield Elementary, Bowling Green KY

Original Research by School Decision on Rockfield Elementary

Rockfield Elementary serves students from preschool through sixth grade as part of the Warren County district on the rural outskirts of Bowling Green. The school sits along Russellville Road, southwest of the city center, in an area that blends farmland with suburban-style residential development. The student body is predominantly white, with a noticeable Asian American population and smaller shares of Black, Hispanic, multiracial, and Pacific Islander students. A substantial majority of students come from households that qualify for free or reduced-price meals, placing the school in a community where economic need is a real factor in daily school life.

Academic results from Kentucky’s state assessments show a mixed picture that shifts noticeably by subject and grade level. In both math and English language arts, the youngest tested students post the weakest results, while sixth graders perform markedly better. Sixth-grade proficiency rates are the strongest in the building, reaching well above half in both math and reading. Fourth and fifth graders show more modest results, with fewer than half of students meeting the state’s proficiency standard in either subject. Science results for fourth graders land in between, with roughly two out of five scoring proficient. Social studies for fifth graders comes in below half. When the school’s overall proficiency is placed against other Warren County elementary schools, it lands slightly above the midpoint, making it a middle-of-the-pack performer in the district rather than an outlier in either direction.

A parent looking at this data will see a school where older elementary students tend to perform better on state tests than those in the middle grades. This pattern could reflect a variety of factors—curriculum alignment, teaching continuity, or cohort differences—and is something a family may want to ask the principal about directly. What is unavailable from the data is context like chronic absenteeism, special education identification rates, or English learner counts, all of which could help explain the proficiency results more fully.

The school itself is a regular public elementary school, not a charter or magnet, and serves a wide range of grade levels through sixth grade, meaning students move on to a middle school afterward. Program offerings were not reported in the data, so there is no information about gifted services, specials like art or music, or extracurricular options. This may be a gap worth checking on the school’s website or by calling the office, especially for families who prioritize those elements.

The housing context for this area is relatively affordable compared to national norms. Home values sit modestly above the Kentucky state average, though well below the national median. Rents are moderate, and the relationship between rental costs and local income suggests a generally manageable housing market. Bowling Green has grown steadily in population over the past couple of decades, driven by its role as a manufacturing center and home to Western Kentucky University. The city recovered from a devastating tornado event in late 2021 and continues to see residential development and annexation activity, particularly along the Interstate 65 corridor between Nashville and Louisville. For a family considering this school, the surrounding area offers a mix of industrial employment, university presence, and suburban growth, with a downtown core centered on Fountain Square Park and a built environment that is largely car-dependent outside of the historic center and university campus.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 351%

School 51% · District 44% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Grade 437%

School 37% · District 46% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Grade 530%

School 30% · District 39% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 659%

School 59% · District 53% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 17 pts above state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 356%

School 56% · District 49% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Grade 448%

School 48% · District 48%

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 537%

School 37% · District 47% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 662%

School 62% · District 59% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

Science

Grade 442%

School 42% · District 40% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 536%

School 36% · District 34% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▼ 2 pts below state median · even with county median

This schoolWarren 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-income45%Higher-income74%29 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income41%Higher-income59%18 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income31%Higher-income48%17 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income57%Higher-income73%16 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income41%Higher-income66%25 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income32%Higher-income44%12 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income20%Higher-income48%28 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income49%Higher-income83%34 pp gap