The top reported proficiency rate is 64% in English language arts. The lowest is 47% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Southside Elementary School
Southside Elementary School serves students from preschool through fifth grade in Versailles, the seat of Woodford County. The school is part of the Woodford County district and draws most of its enrollment from the surrounding small town and its rural edges in the Bluegrass Region, an area known for thoroughbred horse farms and bourbon distilleries. Versailles is a growing community; its population has risen steadily over the past decade and a half, and the town’s traditional downtown layout with a grid of residential neighborhoods and a Main Street core anchors local civic life, including a public library and city hall.
The school is a regular elementary building with an enrollment that is modest for a primary school serving this grade span. Its student body is predominantly white, with a smaller but noticeable share of Hispanic students and a very small representation of Black and Asian students. About one-third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a share that places the school in a middle range for economic diversity; it is not a high-poverty school, nor is it an affluent one. The school does not report its share of students receiving special education services or English learner supports, so a parent trying to understand the full support landscape here would want to ask the school directly about those resources and how they are allocated across grade levels.
Academically, Southside Elementary shows a mixed pattern on the Kentucky Summative Assessment, the state’s regular accountability test. Reading and language arts are the school’s clearer strength. In third grade, a strong majority of students scored proficient or above, and that level held steady through fourth and fifth grades, remaining above the majority mark each year. Math performance is more uneven. Third graders posted a solid proficiency rate, but that figure dropped by a meaningful margin in fourth grade and dipped a little further in fifth grade, settling below the majority threshold. The same pattern appears in fourth-grade science, where just under half of students reached proficiency, and in fifth-grade social studies, where a slim majority did. This pattern suggests that as students move through the upper elementary grades, math and science become more challenging for this cohort. A parent considering the school might want to ask how the school supports students who are struggling in math in fourth and fifth grades, and whether there are interventions or targeted instruction available.
The Woodford County district as a whole has not had any major publicly reported changes or controversies in its recent past, and the search for recent district developments turned up little. That lack of disruptions may itself be a signal of stability. Housing in the area is relatively expensive; home values in the school’s ZIP code are above the Kentucky median, and rents have been rising at a notable pace, which suggests that the housing market is fairly tight and that the school’s attendance zone may be drawing from a mix of longer-term residents and newer arrivals who have paid a premium to live there.
Because Southside Elementary serves only through fifth grade, there is no graduation rate to consider. The school also does not report discipline data, staffing ratios, or chronic absenteeism rates in the available information, so a parent looking for a fuller picture on school climate or teacher experience would need to gather that from the school or the district office. What is clear is that the school delivers a reasonably strong reading program across all tested grades, while its math results, especially in the later elementary years, are a softer spot that warrants attention. Families who value a stable, small-town elementary setting and who are comfortable with a school where reading outcomes are generally above the line but math proficiency trails off in the upper grades may find this a good fit. Those who need more intensive academic support or who want to see a more consistent trajectory across subjects should probe further.
See more original research from School Decision →