West Pennyroyal News

There were 640 fourth grade students enrolled in Barren County schools in the 2022-23 school year, 6.1% more than the previous year, according to the Kentucky Department of Education.

Highland Elementary School welcomed most of the fourth grade students in the county, registering 115 students.

Within Barren County schools, the highest student population was found in ninth grade, with the smallest class sizes seen in fifth grade.

Statewide, Barren County ranked 18th in enrollment numbers. It was also ranked 18th the year before.

Despite escaping some of the pandemic's educational disruptions, Kentucky's achievement gaps have remained an issue since 2019. In the eighth-grade reading assessments, for example, Hispanic students scored eight points lower than their white peers, and the gap reached 15 points in math. Black students fared even worse, falling more than 20 points behind and facing a failure rate nearly double that of their white counterparts.

School	# of 4th Grade Students Enrolled	% of Student Body	Total Enrollment
Highland Elementary School	115	14.1%	816
Red Cross Elementary School	86	11.4%	753
North Jackson Elementary School	73	12.5%	583
South Green Elementary School	71	11.9%	595
Park City Elementary School	57	13.1%	436
Eastern Elementary School	53	14%	378
Austin Tracy Elementary School	48	13.1%	366
Temple Hill Elementary School	48	16.1%	298
Caverna Elementary School	41	11.6%	354
Hiseville Elementary School	39	12.1%	322
BAVEL	9	3.3%	275