The top reported proficiency rate is 33% in English language arts. The lowest is 7% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Southside K-8
Southside K-8 sits on Rocket Boy Drive in War, a small former coal-mining town in McDowell County, West Virginia. The school serves students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade as part of McDowell County Schools. War itself is a community in the rugged southern Appalachian coal region, a place whose identity is tied to its mining heritage and its connection to the film "October Sky." Like much of McDowell County, the town has experienced steep economic decline as the coal industry contracted, and the population continues to shrink. Publicly reported sources describe War as one of the poorest communities in one of the poorest counties in the United States, with limited commercial activity and few remaining employers beyond local government and the school system itself.
The school enrolls a modest number of students across its grade bands, with fairly even distribution from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. The student body is predominantly white, with a small fraction of students identifying as Black and a handful identifying as two or more races. No students are identified as Hispanic, Asian, or Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander. Data on free or reduced-price lunch eligibility was not reported, nor were figures for students with individualized education programs or English learners. Given the economic context of the community, families reading this may want to ask the school directly about support services and student population details that the public data does not capture.
On the most recent state assessments, Southside's results tell a mixed but mostly sobering story. In English language arts, the school shows moderate proficiency in several grades. Fourth grade and eighth grade stand out as the strongest, with a substantial share of students meeting proficiency. Fifth and seventh grades also show moderate levels. Third and sixth grades are lower, with roughly a fifth of students proficient. ELA is the area where the school shows the most relative strength. In math, the picture is far weaker. Proficiency is very low across nearly every grade, with only fourth grade reaching a moderate level. Third, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth grades all show only a small fraction of students scoring proficient. Science results, assessed only in fifth and eighth grades, are also low. Participation rates are strong, with nearly all students taking the assessments. The gap between ELA and math performance is wide, and a parent may want to look into how the school is addressing math instruction and what support structures are in place.
No multi-year trend data is available beyond the current year, so it is not possible to say whether these results represent an improvement or decline from prior years. Average scale scores were also not reported, which limits the picture to proficiency rates alone.
War's housing market is among the most affordable in the state and the nation. Home values sit far below both the West Virginia and national benchmarks, and the local market has been declining. This reflects the broader economic reality of the community rather than a typical housing choice driven by school selection. For a family considering the area, housing costs would be very low, but so would the local tax base and the economic opportunities that support school funding and community services.
Information on specific programs, course offerings, staffing levels, discipline practices, attendance patterns, and civil-rights indicators was not available in the provided data. We looked for details on the district's strategic priorities and recent changes but found little, so we left it out rather than guess. McDowell County Schools has a documented history of state intervention and community partnership initiatives, but no recent parent-relevant developments surfaced in available sources.
Southside K-8 is a small community school in a place facing real economic headwinds. Its ELA results suggest some students are building reading skills, but its math and science outcomes are low. Families considering this school would benefit from direct conversations with staff about academic supports, available programming, and how the school is working to strengthen instruction where the data shows the greatest need.
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