South Preston School, Tunnelton WV

Original Research by School Decision on South Preston School

South Preston School sits in Tunnelton, a tiny rural community in southwestern Preston County with roots in the B&O Railroad. The town takes its name from the eastern end of the Kingwood Tunnel, and that railroad heritage still shapes its identity. Publicly reported sources describe a compact settlement with only a handful of businesses, a train depot museum listed on the National Register of Historic Places, a senior center, and a volunteer fire department. The school itself is one of the town's civic anchors, serving pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. Students who age out of South Preston move on to high schools elsewhere in Preston County.

The school is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and it draws a student body that is almost entirely white. Enrollment sits at a moderate size for a rural pre-K-through-eight school, with relatively even distribution across grade levels. Free-or-reduced-price lunch data was not available, and IEP and English learner figures were also missing, so the picture of economic disadvantage and special populations is incomplete. A parent wanting to understand student support needs may want to ask the school directly about those figures.

On state assessments, South Preston's results tell a mixed story. English language arts is the stronger area. Proficiency in the upper elementary and middle grades hovers around the mid-range, with fourth, fifth, and seventh grades performing at similar levels, while third and eighth grade trail behind. Math follows a more concerning pattern. Third and fourth grade proficiency lands in a moderate band, but results dip sharply in the middle grades, with sixth and eighth grade proficiency falling to quite low levels. Science, tested only in fifth and eighth grade, sits low as well, with eighth grade particularly weak. Participation rates are strong across nearly every grade and subject, which means the results reflect the full student body rather than a skewed subset. Average scale scores were not reported, and no multi-year trend data was available, so there is no way to judge whether performance is improving or declining over time.

Because South Preston serves only through eighth grade, there is no graduation rate or high school course access data. That gap reflects the grade band, not a missing measure.

The housing market around the school is among the most affordable in the state. Home values in the area's zip code sit well below both the West Virginia statewide benchmark and the national figure, and the price-to-income ratio suggests that owning a home here is within reach for many local families compared to much of the country. Rental data was not available. Tunnelton has experienced steady population decline over recent years, and publicly reported sources note minimal housing stock and no major development on the horizon. The town is part of the Morgantown metropolitan area, so some residents likely commute north for work, but Tunnelton itself has a very small employment base concentrated in public administration, retail, and construction.

At the district level, Preston County Schools recently established the Rowlesburg Opportunity Center, a new school that may shift educational options and assignments for families in that area. How this affects South Preston specifically was not clear from the available information. We looked for the district's strategic priorities and program details but found little, so we left those out rather than guess. No comparison data positioning South Preston against other schools or districts in the county was available, so it is hard to say how it stacks up to its neighbors. A parent evaluating this school would benefit from asking about the middle-grade math dip, the absence of FRPL and IEP data, and what academic supports are in place for students struggling in the upper grades.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 337%

School 37% · District 53% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 15 pts below state median

Grade 444%

School 44% · District 40% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▼ 6 pts below state median

Grade 530%

School 30% · District 45% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 11 pts below state median

Grade 614%

School 14% · District 26% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median

Grade 731%

School 31% · District 34% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▼ 1 pts below state median

Grade 813%

School 13% · District 26% · ▼ 13 pts below district

▼ 17 pts below state median

English language arts

Grade 321%

School 21% · District 39% · ▼ 18 pts below district

▼ 21 pts below state median

Grade 444%

School 44% · District 47% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 6 pts below state median

Grade 544%

School 44% · District 46% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 4 pts below state median

Grade 640%

School 40% · District 40% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 6 pts below state median

Grade 745%

School 45% · District 49% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▲ 2 pts above state median

Grade 828%

School 28% · District 37% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 14 pts below state median

Science

Grade 530%

School 30% · District 36% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 1 pts below state median

Grade 810%

School 10% · District 18% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median

This schoolPRESTON COUNTY SCHOOLS, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.