Summary:
The 42328 ZIP code has one school, Western Elementary School, serving prekindergarten through grade 6 and enrolling 221 students in Ohio County. With no other local schools, parents can compare its grade-level results with district and state results, but not with another school in the ZIP code. The clearest overall strength in 2025–2026 was mathematics: Western’s average across grades 3–6 was 52% proficient, 9 percentage points above the state average, while reading was essentially level with the state.
Western’s strongest results were in grade 4 mathematics, with 65% proficient—22 points above the state and 14 above the district—and grade 6 mathematics, at 58%, 16 points above the state. Grade 4 reading was also strong at 61%, 11 points above the state. The lowest results were grade 5 social studies, where 17% were proficient, 21 points below the state and 17 below the district, and grade 5 writing, at 26%, 9 points below the state. Grade 3 reading was 41%, 8 points below the state. These differences show that performance varies considerably by grade and subject; the grade 4 science score cannot be assessed because the state suppressed it.
Results fell from the prior year on average: mathematics declined from 58% in 2024–2025 to 52% in 2025–2026, while reading dropped from 59% to 51%. Western’s math advantage over the state narrowed from 15 points to 9, and its reading advantage narrowed from 9 points to essentially zero. SchoolDigger’s ranking also moved from 218 of 685 schools (68th percentile) in 2024–2025 to 342 of 684 (50th percentile) in 2025–2026. As context, the student-teacher ratio was 12.8:1 and 72% of students were free/reduced lunch eligible in 2024–2025. Chronic absenteeism was 28% in 2025–2026, compared with 27% in the district and 24% statewide; these figures describe the school and do not establish what explains its results.
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