Summary:
Zip code 26280 in Mill Creek, West Virginia, is served by two public schools within the Randolph County Schools district, which ranks in the bottom 12% of districts statewide, and together these schools educate roughly 711 students from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade.
For parents, the most important takeaway is that George Ward Elementary School (PK-5) consistently outperforms Tygarts Valley Middle/High School (6-12) across nearly every subject. George Ward’s math proficiency (28.4%) is more than double the secondary school’s rate (11.2%), and its ELA proficiency (35.5%) also exceeds the secondary school’s (25.0%). However, both schools face significant challenges. Tygarts Valley’s 8th grade math proficiency is a stark 3.5%, meaning roughly 96% of 8th graders are not proficient, and its overall ranking dropped to the 2nd percentile in the most recent school year. George Ward, while more stable, also saw its ranking fall to the 6th percentile, with a particularly sharp decline in 5th grade science (from 35% to 18.4% year-over-year) and a dramatic math cliff from 3rd grade (41.3%) down to 5th grade (12.2%).
There are a few bright spots worth noting. Tygarts Valley’s 6th grade ELA proficiency (43.9%) actually exceeds the state average, suggesting strong elementary preparation, but this advantage evaporates by 7th and 8th grade. Both schools have reasonable student-teacher ratios (12.3:1 at Tygarts Valley, 15.0:1 at George Ward) and similar per-student spending around $10,500-$11,000, yet the elementary school achieves better outcomes with that funding. The graduation rate at Tygarts Valley (90%) trails both the district (95.1%) and state (92.8%). Overall, parents should expect that academic struggles intensify as students move into secondary grades, and the recent simultaneous ranking declines at both schools suggest systemic district-wide issues that may require targeted intervention.
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