Cawood Elementary School

Located at 51 Nola St, in Cawood, Kentucky, Cawood Elementary School is a modestly sized K-5 school that teaches 209 students (grades pre-K through 8), one of the schools within Harlan County. Enrollment runs roughly 50% smaller than the state mean of about 421.

Harlan County runs 9 schools in total, collectively educating 3,310 students. Cawood Elementary School is one of those campuses.

Demographically, Cawood Elementary School logs that 96% of students identify as White, making the school strongly White-majority. That mix tracks the wider county fairly closely.

On the resource side, Cawood Elementary School logs 16 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 13.1:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 15.4:1, putting Cawood Elementary School tighter than the state norm the norm. About 87% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. That share is noticeably above Harlan County's rate of about 76%.

With demographic context factored in, Cawood Elementary School is in the OUTPERFORMING tier of the BeatsExpectations model, which fits a per-state line through proficiency and FRL share. Schools with this campus's poverty mix typically land near 32.9%; this one delivers 56.7%, a residual of +23.8 points.

Zooming out to the county, community-level numbers for Harlan County indicate median household income runs about $41,693, 13% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 21%. In all, Harlan County runs 15 public schools (combined enrollment of about 4,310 students), of which Cawood Elementary School is one.

Appalachian Challenge Academy is the nearest neighboring public school, about 4.4 miles from this campus. Within ten miles, there are 8 other public schools, a sparser pattern than typical urban areas. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Cawood Elementary School at 1st of 7; the average score across the group is 43.7%.

The school occupies a small-town site.

Trend over the last 7 years. Over the past 7-year window, the student count decreased 24%: 275 students in 2018 compared to 209 in 2025. Class-load math has pulled in: from 15.8:1 in 2018 to 13.1:1 in 2025.

In the discussion threads here, the feed for Cawood Elementary School typically covers open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.