Taylor County Schools

Taylor County Schools is a small West Virginia district serving about 2,128 students across five schools—three elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school—and currently ranks 40th out of 54 districts statewide with a 1-star rating.

The standout is West Taylor Elementary School, which earns a 4-star rating and ranks in the 84th percentile statewide, posting math proficiency of 62.8% and ELA of 60.6%—far ahead of every other school in the district. Remarkably, it achieves this while spending the least per student ($10,773). At the other extreme, Anna Jarvis Elementary School has fallen to a 0-star rating, ranking 345th out of 355 elementary schools, with just 33.6% math and 29.5% ELA proficiency. Flemington Elementary School spends the most per student ($13,886) yet posts the lowest elementary math scores (29.3%), while Taylor County Middle School has dropped 61 ranking positions in one year, now sitting at the 29th percentile with particular weakness in 7th-grade ELA (27.8% proficiency). Grafton High School shows a troubling math crisis—only 15.1% of 11th graders are proficient—though its science scores (24%) actually exceed the state average, and its graduation rate is a strong 95.2%.

District-wide, proficiency trails state averages in every core subject, with the largest gap in ELA (-8.1 points). The data reveals a district with one exceptional school, one severely struggling school, and three others needing targeted support. The key takeaway for parents is that outcomes vary dramatically even among schools serving the same grade levels—3rd-grade math ranges from 72.7% at West Taylor to just 30% at Flemington—and that higher spending does not guarantee better results. The district's path forward lies in replicating West Taylor's effective practices and addressing the specific declines at the middle and high school levels.