The top reported proficiency rate is 52% in English language arts. The lowest is 40% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Monongah Elementary School
Monongah Elementary School sits on Walnut Street in the heart of Monongah, a very small former coal-mining town in Marion County. The school serves pre-kindergarten through fourth grade and operates as a regular public school within Marion County Schools. Its enrollment is modest, consistent with what you would expect for a small-town elementary serving a single community.
The student body is predominantly white, with small numbers of children identifying as Hispanic, Black, or of two or more races. The school does not report free-or-reduced-price lunch counts, IEP rates, or English learner figures in the data available, so those dimensions of the student population are not visible here. A parent wanting to understand the economic mix of the school or the level of specialized support would need to ask the school directly.
State testing at Monongah Elementary covers only third and fourth grade, since West Virginia begins its general summative assessment in grade three. The school does not serve grades five through eight, so those rows are absent, and science results are missing for the same reason. The school has no graduation rate, no AP or dual-credit coursework, and no high school programs, all of which is expected for an elementary building of this grade band.
In English language arts, a majority of tested third graders and a majority of tested fourth graders reached proficiency, which is a solid result for a small elementary school. Math results are softer. Fewer than half of third graders demonstrated proficiency, and the fourth grade share was lower still. Participation was near-universal across both subjects and grades, which means the results reflect the student body rather than a partial sample. No trend data is available to show whether these numbers are rising or falling over time. Average scale scores were not reported. A parent may want to look into what the school is doing to strengthen math instruction, particularly as children move from third into fourth grade.
No data was available on staffing ratios, teacher credentials, discipline, attendance, course access, Title I status, or civil-rights indicators such as harassment or restraint. The comparison fact-set and neighbor comparison were also absent, so this account cannot position Monongah Elementary against other schools in Marion County. What the data does provide is a focused academic snapshot in two subjects at two grade levels, set inside a community with a distinct history.
Monongah itself is a compact residential town straddling the West Fork River, with Booths Creek joining the river near the center of town. Publicly reported sources describe it as the unofficial capital of small coal mining towns, and its civic identity is bound up with the Monongah mining disaster, memorialized by a statue of a mother and child and an Italian bell in the center of town. The last documented industrial operation, a cement block factory, closed and was demolished some years ago. No current major employers were identified in available sources, and the town's population has been in long-term decline. Residents appear to commute to nearby Fairmont for work, though this is not explicitly documented.
The housing market around the school is relatively affordable. Home values in the zip code sit below the statewide benchmark and well below national figures, and rents are similarly modest. The price-to-income ratio suggests that ownership is within reach for many local households compared with much of the country. No major new housing developments or commercial growth initiatives surfaced in the available research, so the community a family would be joining is quiet and established rather than expanding.
For families with young children, Monongah Elementary represents a small, community-rooted school in an affordable town with deep coal-country heritage. Its ELA results are a genuine strength. Its math results are a soft spot worth asking about. Beyond that, the absence of data on staffing, student support, and economic demographics means a visit to the school and a conversation with the principal would fill in the picture this account cannot complete.
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