The top reported proficiency rate is 67% in Science. The lowest is 32% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Hanna Elementary
Hanna Elementary sits in a town that coal built and that coal's decline has reshaped. The school serves kindergarten through sixth grade and is part of Carbon County School District #2, the district that covers Hanna and surrounding communities in this corner of Carbon County, Wyoming. This is a very small school. Each grade cohort has only a handful of students, which means a single child's performance can move a grade-level result sharply in either direction. That fact matters for anyone reading the state assessment data.
On Wyoming's WY-TOPP assessment, the picture is mixed and grade-dependent. Math results climb noticeably as students move up. The lowest grade tested shows proficiency in the lowest reported band, while the intermediate grades land closer to the middle of the range, and the oldest grade tested shows a clear majority of students meeting proficiency. ELA results are generally softer, with the middle grades sitting below the math marks. The one science result available, for a single tested grade, is among the stronger figures the school posts. Taken together, the school's overall proficiency index lands in the bottom quartile relative to districts in Carbon County, a comparison set that includes only two districts. Given the tiny tested groups, a parent may want to look into how the school supports literacy in the early and middle grades and whether the upward math trend reflects instruction that builds over time.
The school does not have a graduation rate, because it serves only elementary grades. Chronic absenteeism, discipline, course access, and staffing data were not available, so those dimensions cannot be characterized here. IEP and English learner counts were also missing from the data provided.
The student body is predominantly white, with small numbers of Hispanic, Black, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and multiracial students. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which reflects the economic conditions of the surrounding community. The town of Hanna was founded as a coal supply point for the Union Pacific Railroad, and mining anchored life here from the late 1800s onward. As local mines shut down over the decades, the population has fallen steadily. No new housing developments or growth projects were identified in publicly reported sources, and the trajectory is one of contraction rather than expansion.
Housing here is inexpensive by any standard. Typical home values run far below both the Wyoming state benchmark and the national one, and the price-to-income ratio sits below the national figure. For a family buying a home, the monthly cost is modest, though current mortgage rates remain elevated. Rental data was not available. There is no public transit; the town is small enough that daily life runs on personal vehicles. Civic life centers on a few anchors: the public library branch, the Hanna Basin Museum in the old Community Hall, and the Miner's Monument commemorating those lost in past mine disasters. Schools and civic functions are woven into the town rather than set apart on separate campuses.
For a parent considering Hanna Elementary, the central realities are intimacy and context. Class sizes are tiny, which can mean close attention from teachers but also means each cohort's academic results swing widely from year to year. The community is quiet, affordable, and shaped by a mining heritage that still defines its identity. The academic data suggests stronger outcomes in the upper elementary math and science than in the younger grades and in literacy across the board. Families looking for a small, rural setting with low housing costs and a tight-knit feel may find this a fit, while those seeking richer program offerings or larger peer groups would need to look elsewhere or weigh the trade-offs carefully.
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