Nonprofit education news organization The 74 Million published its top five "Bright Spots" from each state, and South Hampton K-8 is among them.

Bright Spots are defined as schools that exceed third grade reading proficiency expectations based on income level, since a direct correlation has been drawn between poverty and reading deficiency.

Because Jefferson County has a poverty rate of 85.6%, expected reading proficiency would be 47.3%. The actual proficiency rate at South Hampton is 85.1%, which ranks among the top five for the state.