West Pennyroyal News

There were 136 third grade students enrolled in Monroe County schools in the 2022-23 school year, 4.2% less than the previous year, according to the Kentucky Department of Education.

Tompkinsville Elementary School welcomed most of the third grade students in the county, registering 50 students.

Within Monroe County schools, the highest student population was found in kindergarten, with the smallest class sizes seen in preschool.

Statewide, Monroe County ranked 94th in enrollment numbers. It was also ranked 94th 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 3rd Grade Students Enrolled	% of Student Body	Total Enrollment
Tompkinsville Elementary School	50	11.5%	435
Gamaliel Elementary School	46	15.3%	300
Joe Harrison Carter	40	14.8%	270