Keene Elementary School, Keene OH

Original Research by School Decision on Keene Elementary School

Keene Elementary School has closed. The school permanently shut its doors at the end of the 2022-2023 school year as part of a district consolidation driven by long-term enrollment decline across the River View Local School District. Students who had attended Keene Elementary were moved to River View Elementary, located in Warsaw, where all lower-grade elementary students from the district now attend together.

Before closure, Keene Elementary served grades three through six in this rural, unincorporated crossroads community in Keene Township, Coshocton County. The most recent available test data, from 2022-23, show a mixed academic picture across the grade band. In math, fourth-grade students achieved universal proficiency, and fifth-grade performance was solid; third and sixth grades showed weaker results. Reading performance was stronger in the middle grades and noticeably lower in third grade. Fifth-grade science and older social-studies results, where measured, indicated competent performance. The school tested every student, achieving full participation across subjects.

The consolidation reflects a broader pattern in the district. River View has lost enrollment substantially over several decades, from a much larger student body in the late 1970s to only a few hundred by 2022-23. In May 2020, the closure of the AEP Conesville coal plant eliminated a major source of district tax revenue. Voters rejected two separate income-tax levy attempts in 2020. The district responded by closing three school buildings: Conesville Elementary and Keene Elementary, and consolidating their students into a single elementary campus at Warsaw.

For a family in Keene Township seeking a public school, the current elementary option is River View Elementary in Warsaw, a longer bus ride than the local Keene building once was. The district operates a middle and high school as well. In November 2024 and May 2025, voters approved two renewal property-tax levies that provide a portion of the district's annual funding, stabilizing operations after years of tight finances. No new elementary facility in Keene has been proposed, and growth in the township has been slow and dispersed across owner-occupied rural housing with little new construction.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 379%

School 79% · district not reported

▲ 17 pts above state median

Grade 4100%

School 100% · district not reported

▲ 35 pts above state median

Grade 582%

School 82% · district not reported

▲ 41 pts above state median

Grade 665%

School 65% · district not reported

▲ 43 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 357%

School 57% · district not reported

▼ 1 pts below state median

Grade 481%

School 81% · district not reported

▲ 23 pts above state median

Grade 588%

School 88% · district not reported

▲ 23 pts above state median

Grade 674%

School 74% · district not reported

▲ 33 pts above state median

Science

Grade 582%

School 82% · district not reported

▲ 21 pts above state median

Social studies

Grade 479%

School 79% · district not reported

▼ 3 pts below state median

Grade 674%

School 74% · district not reported

▲ 11 pts above state median

This schoolRiver View Local, 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-income29%Higher-income86%57 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income75%Higher-income88%13 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income78%Higher-income100%22 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income55%Higher-income92%37 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income71%Higher-income86%14 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income100%Higher-income100%0 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income67%Higher-income100%33 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income64%Higher-income67%3 pp gap