Summary:
Cawood has one school, Cawood Elementary School, serving prekindergarten through eighth grade with 209 students in the Harlan County district. Across eight reported grade-and-subject results in 2025–26, the school averaged 66% proficient, compared with 44% for Kentucky on those same results—a 22-point advantage. The most important takeaway is that results are strong overall relative to the state, but that strength is uneven, especially in math.
There is no school-to-school leader or lower performer to identify because Cawood is the only school listed. Within the school, sixth-grade math stands out at 82% proficient, 30 points above the county and 40 above the state; fifth-grade math is the clearest weak spot at 30%, 9 points below the county and 13 below the state. Reading is consistently strong in the reported grades: 75% in third grade and 78% in fifth, each more than 25 points above the state. Eighth-grade writing was 75%, 27 points above both county and state, while fifth-grade social studies was 57%, 14 points above the county and 19 above the state.
Year-to-year results show a notable writing gain, but not a uniform upward trend: eighth-grade writing rose from 39% in 2024–25 to 75% in 2025–26, while eighth-grade math fell from 72% to 63% and fifth-grade social studies from 67% to 57%. SchoolDigger ranked the school 75th of 685 (89th percentile) in 2023–24, 224th of 685 (67th percentile) in 2024–25, and 90th of 684 (87th percentile) in 2025–26—a dip followed by a rebound. Other context includes a 13:1 student-teacher ratio in 2024–25 and 87% of students eligible for free/reduced lunch in 2024–25. Chronic absenteeism was 40% in 2025–26, below the county’s 46% but above Kentucky’s 24%.
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