Schools in Zip Code 40831

Zip code 40831 has three schools serving grades PK–12: James A. Cawood Elementary serves PK–8, Harlan Elementary School serves K–4, and Harlan High School serves grades 5–12. The results vary by school, grade, and subject, but reading is the most consistently strong subject compared with the state: the average gap is 13 percentage points above the state, versus 3 points for math. The clearest overall standout is Cawood, which exceeded state results in every reported math and reading grade.

Cawood’s results are especially strong across grades 3–8: it was 1–18 points above the state in math and 1–26 points above in reading, and its grade 5 social studies result was 64%, 26 points above the state. Harlan Elementary also stands out in reading, scoring 20 points above the state in both grades 3 and 4. Harlan High’s high-school results are impressive in places—grade 10 reading was 73%, 24 points above the state, and grade 11 writing was 85%, 38 points above—but its middle-grade results are less consistent: grade 8 math was 18%, 21 points below the state and 22 points below Cawood. SchoolDigger ranks Harlan High 22nd of 262 schools (92nd percentile), Harlan Elementary 150th of 684 (78th percentile), and Cawood 144th of 684 (79th percentile).

Recent test-score changes were mixed: across comparable results, Harlan Elementary improved by an average of 8 points, Cawood was roughly flat, and Harlan High declined by an average of 4 points; Harlan High’s reading results, however, rose by an average of 2 points. SchoolDigger’s three-year rankings also moved differently: Harlan Elementary gained 22 percentile points, Cawood gained 8, and Harlan High fell 5. School context differs too: Cawood has 277 students and a 10.9 student-teacher ratio, while Harlan High has 455 students and a ratio of 17; Harlan Elementary’s ratio is 14.7. In 2024–2025, free/reduced lunch eligible students made up 83% at Cawood, 61% at Harlan Elementary, and 55% at Harlan High. These figures are context, not an explanation for school results; a child’s grade and subject are important when comparing schools.