The top reported proficiency rate is 61% in Science. The lowest is 32% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Western Elementary School
Western Elementary School serves students in grades four through six in Latham, a very small rural unincorporated community in Pike County's Appalachian foothills. The school is part of Western Local, a three-building district where all schools sit on a single campus along State Route 124. The hamlet itself is overwhelmingly residential and agricultural, with the school functioning as the de facto civic anchor for the community. Employment is sparse in Latham proper; most working residents commute to larger Pike County employment centers, particularly the Department of Energy's Portsmouth Site in nearby Piketon and its associated manufacturing base.
Western Elementary is a school of modest size serving the grades it covers. Recent state testing shows a mixed academic profile. In English language arts, proficiency stands at a level where roughly four of ten tested students scored at proficient or above. Mathematics proficiency is lower, at roughly three in ten. Science performed stronger, with proficiency near six in ten, though notably fewer students were tested in that subject. The wide variance across these measures suggests that this is a school where reading and math fluency differ notably, and where students' strengths appear to lean toward conceptual science understanding over procedural math skills. A parent may want to look into the reasons for that spread and whether the school has targeted support in place for mathematics, since that appears to be a softer area. Trend data covering multiple years was not available, so it is unclear whether these results represent a stable pattern or a recent shift.
The school sits below the midpoint of overall proficiency compared to other districts in Pike County, based on the average across tested subjects. This reflects both the science strength and the math and reading softness when taken together. No current data on chronic absenteeism, graduation rate, or school-day attendance was available; those measures do not apply to a fourth-through-sixth-grade building that does not serve high school students, and absenteeism data was not reported for this school.
The student body is very small and reflects the surrounding community's racial and ethnic makeup. The vast majority of students are white. Very few students identify as Black or Hispanic. Specific counts of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch, students with IEPs, or English learners were not published in available data. A parent may want to ask the school directly about the availability of supports for students with learning differences or families experiencing economic hardship.
The Western Local district has recently invested in a Career Development Center that opened in 2024 on the Latham campus. That facility provides high school students with access to online college coursework and career resources, and the broader community—including adults from the area—can use it for free industry certifications such as OSHA training. Internet and cell service are unreliable across much of the district, so the center also serves as a reliable connection point for remote work and professional development. The center was funded through workforce and rural development grants at no cost to the district, and expansion is already in planning.
For families in the area, Western Elementary offers a small-school setting in a genuinely rural, low-density place where the school building is the community hub. The academic picture is uneven: science is a relative strength, reading is moderately strong, but mathematics proficiency is a noted concern. Parents with children who need concentrated math support may want to understand what interventions the school offers, and whether private or supplemental tutoring would be worth considering. The district's new Career Development Center adds a concrete pathway for older students thinking about college or trades, which for a rural area in an economically stressed county represents a real resource.
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