The top reported proficiency rate is 49% in English language arts. The lowest is 27% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Lincoln Middle School
Lincoln Middle School sits on Jerry Toth Drive in Shinnston, a small former coal town along the West Fork River in Harrison County, West Virginia. It is a regular public school serving grades six through eight as part of Harrison County Schools, and its enrollment is modest for a middle school of this grade band. The student body is nearly entirely white, with only a handful of students identifying as Hispanic, two or more races, or American Indian/Alaska Native. No free-or-reduced-price lunch data, special education rates, or English learner figures were available, so the economic and support profile of the student population is something a parent would need to ask the school about directly.
State assessment results from the 2024-25 school year, drawn from the West Virginia General Summative Assessment, tell a clear but uneven story. In English language arts, the sixth grade posted a strong proficiency rate, with a clear majority of tested students meeting or exceeding the bar. That figure drops noticeably by seventh grade and falls further by eighth grade. The same pattern appears in math, where sixth-grade proficiency is solid, seventh grade dips, and eighth grade lands well below where most families would want to see it. Science was tested only in eighth grade, and the proficiency rate there was low. Participation was strong across the board, with nearly all students sitting for the exams. A parent reading these results should notice the downward slide as students move through the building. Whether that reflects curriculum pacing, transitions between grade-level content, or other factors is a question worth raising with school leadership. The data does not explain the cause, and no multi-year trend was available to show whether this pattern is new or persistent.
The school does not serve elementary or high school grades, so no third-, fourth-, or fifth-grade results appear, and no graduation rate applies. Grades three through five are simply outside this school's range.
Shinnston itself is a compact community with a historic downtown along Pike Street, which is also U.S. Route 19. The town grew around coal, oil, and gas, and energy generation still anchors the local economy through existing mines and the nearby Harrison Power Station. Service-oriented businesses have taken a growing share over time. Publicly reported sources note civic anchors like the Lowe Public Library, the Bice-Ferguson Memorial Museum, Ferguson Memorial Park, and the West Fork River Trail. The town sits roughly between Clarksburg and Fairmont, with Interstate 79 accessible a short drive to the southeast. Population has been stable to slightly declining in recent years, and no major new housing developments surfaced in the research. The housing market is affordable by national standards, with typical home values well below both the state and national benchmarks. Rent data was not available, so a full picture of rental costs would require local inquiry.
Information on programs, course access, staffing ratios, attendance, discipline, and civil rights topics was not available for this school. The district brief for Harrison County Schools returned little on recent parent-relevant changes, so nothing concrete can be reported there.
What the assembled picture shows is a small-town middle school in an affordable, historically rooted community, with reasonably strong sixth-grade results that weaken as students advance. Families considering Lincoln Middle would do well to ask how the school supports academic continuity across grades and what interventions are in place for students who fall behind, particularly in math and science at the upper grades.
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