Ashland Independent

Ashland Independent includes eight schools—five elementary schools, one middle school, and two high schools—with 2,892 students, serving children from elementary through high school. The latest results show a mix of strong individual school-and-grade performances and weaker results, particularly in older grades. For example, Ashland Middle School had 21% proficient in grade 8 math, compared with 39% statewide, while Paul G. Blazer High School had 36% proficient in grade 11 writing versus 47% statewide. The clearest concern is that many middle- and high-school results fall below state results, with some of the largest gaps in math and writing.

Several elementary schools stand out, but strengths vary by subject and grade. Oakview Elementary School led in grade 4 math at 57% and grade 5 reading at 58%; Hager Elementary School led in grade 5 math at 57% and grade 4 reading at 63%. Crabbe Elementary School had the standout grade 5 writing result—79%, 44 points above the state—but its grade 5 reading result was 38%, 13 points below the state. At the lower end, Charles Russell Elementary School had 25% in grade 3 reading and 17% in grade 5 writing; Poage Elementary School ranged from 51% in grade 3 math to 23% in grade 4 math. SchoolDigger ranked Oakview and Hager at the 59th and 58th statewide percentiles, respectively, while Charles Russell and Ashland Middle were both at the 28th.

Recent trends are mixed in elementary school and generally weaker in older grades. Ashland Middle’s average math result across grades 6–8 fell from 34% to 28% between 2024–2025 and 2025–2026, while Blazer’s grade 10 math fell from 45% to 35%; elementary math edged up, but elementary reading and social studies declined. SchoolDigger’s three-year percentile ranking rose 13 points at Crabbe but fell 23 at Poage, 16 at Charles Russell, and 25 at Blazer. Context differs too: for 2024–2025, all schools reported free/reduced lunch eligible, ranging from 54% at Blazer to 92% at Ashland Alternative School; elementary student-teacher ratios ranged from 11.1 at Oakview to 16.3 at Hager. Chronic absenteeism was 31% at both Blazer and Ashland Middle, compared with 24% statewide, while Blazer’s graduation rate was 95% versus 94% statewide. Ashland Alternative enrolls 13 students, and its test results are suppressed, so its scores cannot be compared.