The top reported proficiency rate is 56% in English language arts. The lowest is 40% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Barboursville Middle School
Barboursville Middle School sits in the village of Barboursville, a small community on the eastern edge of the Huntington-Ashland metropolitan area. The village is best known as the retail hub of the region, home to the largest indoor shopping mall in West Virginia and a concentration of big-box and highway commercial development along the US Route 60 and I-64 corridor. Yet Barboursville also retains a quieter historic core along Main Street, with a National Register-listed district, older homes, and a walking trail that passes pre-Civil War landmarks. The school itself sits on Central Avenue, within the village, and serves grades six through eight as part of Cabell County Schools. After middle school, students move on to Cabell Midland High School in Ona, a consolidated campus a few miles east.
The school serves a moderately sized middle-grade population. Its student body is predominantly white, with small representations of Asian, Black, Hispanic, multiracial, and American Indian students. Economic indicator data through free or reduced-price lunch counts was not available, so it is difficult to characterize the poverty concentration here from the provided data. Special population figures, including students with individualized education programs and English learners, were also missing. A parent wanting to understand the socioeconomic mix and support-service landscape would need to ask the school directly.
On state testing, Barboursville Middle shows a clear pattern: English language arts results run notably stronger than math. In ELA, the share of students scoring proficient or above sits at a level most families would find encouraging, with the strongest showing in eighth grade and solid performance in sixth. Seventh grade dips somewhat but remains near the midpoint. Math results tell a different story. Proficiency rates across all three tested grades land below what most parents would hope for, with sixth and seventh grade clustered in the same modest range and a modest uptick by eighth grade. Science, tested only in eighth grade at this school, falls in between the two subjects. Participation rates on all assessments were very high, which means the results reflect nearly the full student body rather than a skewed subset.
Because the school serves only grades six through eight, there is no state testing data for grades three through five. Those grades are not tested at this school because they are not taught here. Similarly, there is no graduation rate, no AP or dual-credit data, and no college-readiness measure, all of which are high-school-level constructs that do not apply. No multi-year trend was available beyond the current year's results, so it is not possible to say whether these numbers represent improvement, decline, or stability over time.
Program offerings, course access, staffing ratios, discipline data, and attendance figures were not provided. This limits the picture of what happens inside the building day to day. A family considering this school should ask about elective offerings, intervention supports for students struggling in math, gifted and enrichment opportunities, and extracurriculars. The district brief for Cabell County Schools did not surface any recent referendums, curriculum shifts, or other parent-relevant changes.
The housing market around Barboursville is relatively affordable compared with national figures, with typical home values well below the national benchmark though somewhat above the West Virginia state average. Year-over-year appreciation has been healthy. The price-to-income ratio sits in a range that suggests buying is achievable for many local households, and estimated monthly ownership costs run only modestly above typical rent. The village's growth story is largely commercial rather than residential, with large retail developments planned or under construction near the interstate. Population has been roughly stable, with a slight decline in recent estimates.
For a family weighing Barboursville Middle, the academic signal is mixed. English language arts stands as a genuine strength. Math is a soft spot, and a parent may want to look into how the school supports students who arrive below grade level and whether intervention structures are in place. The community offers a blend of small-town residential life with strong retail access and an extensive public park system. The school's setting within the village, rather than on a distant campus, gives it a neighborhood quality that some families will appreciate.
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