Johnston City CUSD 1

Johnston City CUSD 1 has four schools serving prekindergarten through grade 12: Jefferson Elementary (PK–2), Lincoln Elementary (grades 3–4), Washington Middle (grades 5–8) and Johnston City High (grades 9–12). Attendance is a relative strength: chronic absenteeism averaged 19% across the schools in 2025–26, about 5 percentage points below the state’s 23.5%. Academic results vary by school and subject, but the most important finding is that Washington’s latest overall test results reached or exceeded state levels after a substantial improvement.

Washington Middle stands out in 2025–26: ELA proficiency was 58% compared with 56% statewide, and math was 40% in both the school and state. Lincoln Elementary had a mixed profile: math was 41% versus 40% statewide, while ELA was 49% versus 56%; its grade 4 ELA result was above the state, but grade 3 ELA was 10 points below. At Johnston City High, grade 11 ACT ELA was 53% versus 50% statewide, but math was 7 points below and science 14 points below. Its 95% graduation rate was 5 points above the state. Jefferson Elementary has no reported test results here; its chronic absenteeism was 19%, below the state.

Results improved markedly at Washington Middle: all-grades ELA rose 20 percentage points from 2024–25, and math rose 23 points, bringing both to state level or higher. Lincoln Elementary’s ELA improved by 12 points, while math slipped slightly; at Johnston City High, ACT ELA and math improved relative to the state, but science fell further behind. SchoolDigger ranks the district 536th of 738, at the 27th percentile with one star; its 2025–26 school rankings place Washington at the 46th percentile, Lincoln at the 34th and Johnston City High at the 40th. In 2024–25, free/reduced lunch eligible shares ranged from 50% at the high school to 65% at Lincoln, and student-teacher ratios ranged from 11.7 to 14.5. These are contextual differences, not explanations for test results. Schools cover different grades, and Jefferson has no reported test scores, so the results do not provide a complete like-for-like ranking.