The top reported proficiency rate is 72% in Math. The lowest is 64% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Cheat Lake Elementary School
Cheat Lake Elementary School sits in the Cheat Lake area of Morgantown, serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade as part of Monongalia County Schools. It is a regular public school with an enrollment large enough to run two or three sections per grade, which gives it the feel of a established neighborhood elementary rather than a small rural schoolhouse. The student body is predominantly white, with small numbers of Asian, Black, Hispanic, multiracial, and American Indian or Alaska Native students. The school does not report free-or-reduced-price lunch counts, IEP rates, or English-learner figures in the data available, so a parent wanting to understand the socioeconomic mix or the level of specialized support would need to ask the school directly.
On state testing, Cheat Lake posts strong results across the board. Math proficiency runs high in third and fifth grades, with a slight dip in fourth. English language arts follows a similar pattern, with fifth grade the strongest and third and fourth more middling. Fifth-grade science proficiency also lands solidly above middle. Participation rates are essentially full, which means these results reflect nearly the entire enrolled grade. No trend data over multiple years is available, so it is not possible to say whether these numbers are rising, falling, or holding steady. What is clear is that in the most recent year, students here are performing well above what West Virginia typically sees at the elementary level.
Because the school stops at fifth grade, there is no graduation rate, no ACT or SAT data, and no AP or career-credit information to report. Those metrics belong to the secondary schools that Cheat Lake students feed into. The data does not include discipline reports, course access details, staffing ratios, or attendance figures, so the picture of school climate and resources is incomplete here. A parent would want to visit and ask about class sizes, specialist teachers, and how the school handles behavior and attendance.
The surrounding community is Morgantown, a college town anchored by West Virginia University and its Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center. The city is the medical, cultural, and commercial hub of north-central West Virginia. Major employers include the university, the U.S. Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory, and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. The local economy is largely driven by education and healthcare. Morgantown and Monongalia County are among the fastest-growing areas in the state, with continued population growth, development in housing and research, and some of the lowest unemployment rates in West Virginia. The city has a mix of dense older neighborhoods near downtown and WVU, and more sprawling residential and commercial development further out, which is the character of the area around Cheat Lake. The Wharf District along the Monongahela River has been revitalized with restaurants, a hotel, and access to over ten miles of paved trails. The WVU PRT, an automated people mover, connects the university's dispersed campuses, and Mountain Line Transit provides bus service.
Housing in the school's zip code carries a typical home value above the state benchmark but below the national one, with rents following the same pattern. The price-to-income ratio sits below three, which suggests that buying a home here is more attainable than in many parts of the country, though current mortgage rates near the mid-sixes push monthly payments above what renting costs. Home values have been rising modestly year over year, and rents have risen more sharply, so a family moving in now would find a market that is appreciating but not explosive.
We looked for recent district-level changes in Monongalia County Schools that would affect families and found little of lasting impact reported, so there is nothing concrete to pass along. The district itself does not appear in a neighbor comparison set in the data provided, so this school is not positioned against its county peers here.
What the evidence supports is a clear read: Cheat Lake Elementary is a well-performing elementary school in a growing, education-anchored community, with academic results that stand out at the state level and a housing market that remains relatively accessible. The gaps in the data, particularly around student poverty, special populations, and school climate, are real, and a parent would do well to fill them by visiting and asking questions.
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