SE Bluegrass News

There were 182 eighth grade students enrolled in Powell County schools in the 2022-23 school year, 3.2% less than the previous year, according to the Kentucky Department of Education.

Powell County Middle School welcomed most of the eighth grade students in the county, registering 177 students.

Within Powell County schools, the highest student population was found in 10th grade, with the smallest class sizes seen in preschool.

Statewide, Powell County ranked 76th in enrollment numbers. It was also ranked 76th 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 8th Grade Students Enrolled	% of Student Body	Total Enrollment
Powell County Middle School	177	36%	492
Powell County Academy	5	11.9%	42