Pleasants County Schools

Pleasants County Schools is a small West Virginia district serving roughly 1,042 students across four schools: one high school, one middle school, and two elementary schools. The district ranks 20th out of 54 in the state with a 3-star rating, and all schools maintain favorable student-teacher ratios around 12-13:1.

St. Marys High School is the district's standout, jumping from 70th to 15th in the state rankings this year and earning a 4-star rating. It boasts a perfect 100% graduation rate and strong ELA proficiency at 63.9%, well above the state average. The high school also exceeds state averages in math and science. At the other end of the spectrum, Belmont Elementary School struggles significantly, ranking in the bottom 14% of West Virginia elementary schools with a 1-star rating. Despite nearly identical enrollment and spending, St. Marys Elementary School outperforms Belmont by 24 percentage points in math proficiency (58.2% vs. 34.2%) and 7.3 points in ELA, highlighting a major achievement gap within the same district.

Pleasants County Middle School sits in the middle, earning a 2-star rating with math and ELA proficiency slightly below state averages, though its science scores exceed the state. The middle school shows an interesting grade-level pattern: 7th graders excel in math (49.3% proficient) while 8th graders lag (25.4%). Both elementary schools struggle with 3rd grade ELA, but show dramatic improvement by 4th grade. The district's secondary schools demonstrate particular strength in science, and the high school's ELA performance is exceptional. However, the volatility in high school rankings—swinging from 30th to 70th to 15th over three years—suggests small enrollment numbers can cause large swings. The middle school spends the least per student yet has the best student-teacher ratio, while Belmont spends the most and produces the weakest results, raising questions about resource allocation effectiveness.