The top reported proficiency rate is 58% in English language arts. The lowest is 43% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Daniels Elementary
Daniels Elementary sits on 4-H Lake Road in the small Raleigh County community of Daniels, serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade as part of Raleigh County Schools. The school draws from a quiet, rural census-designated place spread along US Route 19 south of Interstate 64. Most families here own their homes, and the area skews older, with a residential character shaped by the surrounding Appalachian terrain. The Resort at Glade Springs, a full-service resort with golf, spa services, and lodging, anchors the local economy and serves as a nearby gathering point. Beyond it, commercial activity is thin and dispersed along the highway, and residents rely almost entirely on cars. Many commute to nearby Beckley, the county seat, for work, shopping, and services. The community has no walkable downtown, no public transit, and limited civic infrastructure beyond what nature and the resort provide.
The housing market around Daniels Elementary runs above the West Virginia benchmark but well below the national figure, and homes remain affordable relative to income by national standards. Rent data was not available for this zip code. The area has seen a modest uptick in home values recently, though publicly reported sources note that median property values declined over the prior cycle, and the community's population has been contracting slowly. No major new housing developments or commercial construction projects surfaced in the research, so families considering the area should expect a stable, low-growth residential setting rather than one in the midst of rapid change.
Academically, Daniels Elementary's state assessment results from the most recent school year tell a mixed but generally solid story. In English language arts, proficiency rates climb notably between third and fourth grade, with fourth grade standing out as a particularly strong year. Fifth-grade ELA proficiency remains above the midpoint but softens from the fourth-grade peak. Math follows a different pattern, starting reasonably strong in third grade and holding through fourth before dipping in fifth. Science, tested only in fifth grade, posts the lowest proficiency rate among the reported subjects. Participation is essentially universal across all tested grades, which means the results reflect nearly the entire student body. A parent may want to ask the school about the fifth-grade slide in math and science and what supports are in place as students prepare to transition to middle school. Because the school stops at fifth grade, there are no sixth-, seventh-, or eighth-grade results to report, and no graduation rate applies to an elementary building.
The student body is small for a school covering seven grade levels, and it is overwhelmingly white, with only a handful of students identifying as Black, Hispanic, or multiracial. Information on free-or-reduced-price lunch eligibility, special education enrollment, and English learner status was not available in the data provided, so the economic and special-population profile of the school cannot be characterized here. A family relying on those indicators for decision-making would need to request them directly from the school or district.
Raleigh County Schools did not surface any parent-relevant changes in the research, such as curriculum shifts, facility plans, or policy updates, so there is little to report on the district-level front. The absence of news does not mean inactivity, only that nothing of lasting, publicly reported impact came through in the search. Families curious about district priorities or upcoming initiatives should contact Raleigh County Schools directly.
Daniels Elementary fits families looking for a small, rural elementary school with steady, mid-range academic results, strong participation, and a quiet community setting near outdoor recreation. The school's reading results are a genuine bright spot, especially in the intermediate grades. Math and science in fifth grade are softer, and the community itself is in a slow demographic contraction rather than a growth phase. For parents who value a close-knit environment over breadth of programming, and who are comfortable with a car-dependent lifestyle, this is a grounded, unpretentious option worth understanding on its own terms.
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