The top reported proficiency rate is 51% in English language arts. The lowest is 31% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on New Martinsville School
New Martinsville School is a regular public school serving pre-kindergarten through eighth grade in New Martinsville, the county seat of Wetzel County, West Virginia. It sits in a small Ohio River town with a historic downtown commercial district and a residential fabric shaped by its industrial past. The town once hosted a tannery, planing mill, foundry, brick works, oil well supply operations, and the Viking Glass Company. Today many residents commute to surrounding industrial plants and mines, while others work locally at Wetzel County Hospital or the nearby branch of West Virginia Northern Community College. The city operates one of only two municipal electric systems in the state and is a partner in the Hannibal Locks and Dam hydroelectric facility, which contributes substantially to the city budget. These are publicly reported details about the community. We searched for recent parent-relevant changes in Wetzel County Schools and found little of lasting impact, so we left that section aside rather than guess.
The school's enrollment is sizable for its grade band, and its student body is overwhelmingly white, with a very small number of students identifying as Hispanic, multiracial, Asian, Black, or Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander. Free or reduced-price lunch data was not available, and figures for students with individualized education programs and English learners were also missing, so we cannot characterize the school's economically disadvantaged or special-population composition from what was provided. Because the school does not serve high school grades, there is no graduation rate to report, which is expected for this grade band.
On West Virginia's General Summative Assessment, the school's results tell a mixed story that shifts by grade and subject. In math, proficiency is strongest in third grade, where a clear majority of tested students meet or exceed the proficiency bar. From there, math proficiency declines steadily through the middle grades, dipping to its lowest point in seventh grade, where only a small share of students reach proficiency. Eighth grade math recovers somewhat but remains below the earlier grades. In English language arts, the school is more consistent. Proficiency sits in the mid-range across most grades, with a dip in seventh grade similar to what appears in math. Eighth grade ELA returns to roughly where the upper elementary grades were. Science, assessed only in fifth and eighth grades, is the weakest area. Proficiency is low in fifth grade and only modestly better in eighth. A parent weighing this school for a middle-grade child may want to look into the seventh-grade slump in both math and ELA and the consistently low science scores further with the school.
We looked for multi-year trend data to see whether these patterns are stable or shifting, but only a single year of results was available, so no trend can be characterized. Average scale scores were also missing across all grades and subjects, which limits the picture to proficiency rates alone.
The housing market in the school's zip code is modest by both state and national standards. Typical home values sit well below the West Virginia state benchmark and far below the national one, and the estimated monthly mortgage on a typical home is low relative to most markets. Home values have dipped slightly year over year. Rental data was not available. For a family considering a move into the attendance area, housing costs are likely to be a comparatively small burden, though local wage levels in a community where many commute to industrial and mining jobs may temper that advantage.
No data was provided on course access, staffing, discipline, attendance, or Title I status, so we cannot speak to those dimensions. Program offerings were also absent from what was provided. What the available data does show is a school with solid early-elementary math performance, reasonable ELA stability across most grades, and clear soft spots in middle-grade math and science. Families with children in the early grades may find the academic foundation here adequate to strong, while families with children approaching or in the middle grades should ask the school directly how it supports students through the transition years where proficiency drops off.
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