The top reported proficiency rate is 42% in Math. The lowest is 35% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Davis Elementary School
Davis Elementary School sits on 5th Street in Gassaway, a small rural town along the Elk River in Braxton County. The school serves pre-kindergarten through fifth grade and is part of Braxton County Schools. With an enrollment that is modest even for a small-town elementary, the school draws almost entirely from the immediate community. The student body is nearly all white, with only a handful of students identifying as Asian or two or more races. Free and reduced-price lunch data was not reported, so the economic profile of the student body is something a parent would need to ask the school about directly. The same is true for special education and English learner counts, which were not available in the data we received.
On state assessments, Davis Elementary's results tell a mixed but recognizable story for a small rural Appalachian school. In math, roughly two-fifths of tested students reached proficiency across grades three through five, with the fourth grade dipping slightly below the third and fifth. English language arts showed a similar pattern, with fourth grade posting the strongest result at just under half of students proficient, while third and fifth grades landed lower. Science was tested only in fifth grade, and about a third of students met the proficiency bar there. Participation was full across every tested grade and subject, which is itself a positive sign of engagement and continuity. Average scale scores were not reported, and the data covers only a single year, so there is no trend to compare against. With small grade-level cohorts, year-to-year results can swing considerably, so a parent reading these numbers should treat them as a snapshot rather than a fixed pattern. The proficiency rates sit below what most families would hope to see, and a parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand what interventions and supports are in place.
Gassaway itself is a town shaped by railroad history. Founded as a Coal and Coke Railway division point, it once bustled with shops, hotels, a bank, and a hospital. Publicly reported sources describe it as having declined steadily over the decades to its current small population. The town bills itself as "the little city built upon a West Virginia Hill," and it retains a compact commercial strip along Elk Street, with the historic Gassaway Depot still standing on the National Register of Historic Places. The Elk River flows through town, and the Elk River Trail is being extended from the state park through Gassaway toward Sutton, which could add a recreational corridor. Sutton Lake and the Elk River Wildlife Management Area sit a few miles east. The town hosts Gassaway Days each July with live music, a parade, and fireworks. There is no public transit, and walkability is limited to the compact downtown area. The town sits roughly four miles from I-79, which provides regional highway access.
Housing in the 26624 zip code is inexpensive by any standard. The typical home value sits well below both the West Virginia state benchmark and the national figure, and values have been edging downward recently. With a price-to-income ratio under two times national levels, buying a home here is within reach for many working families, though the declining market signals limited appreciation and a thin pool of buyers. Rental data was not available. For a family already rooted in or drawn to this part of Braxton County, the housing costs are low and the setting is quiet. The tradeoff is that the local economy has few large employers, with the school system and local government likely anchoring much of the work available.
We looked for recent district-level changes or initiatives from Braxton County Schools that would affect families at Davis Elementary, but the search returned little of lasting impact beyond directory and enrollment basics. No program offerings, course access details, staffing ratios, discipline data, or attendance figures were available for the school itself. Civil rights data was also absent. These gaps mean the academic and community picture here is drawn from assessment results, enrollment, and the locale context rather than a full institutional portrait.
Davis Elementary is a small community school in a small town, serving families who live nearby. Its test results are modest, its student body is small and homogeneous, and the surrounding community is quiet and affordable but economically limited. For a parent weighing this school, the questions worth asking are about academic support, what the daily classroom experience looks like, and how the school plans to lift proficiency in the grades where it lags.
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