SE Kentucky News

There were 264 first grade students enrolled in Letcher County schools in the 2022-23 school year, 2.3% more than the previous year, according to the Kentucky Department of Education.

West Whitesburg Elementary School welcomed most of the first grade students in the county, registering 68 students.

Within Letcher County schools, the highest student population was found in eighth grade, with the smallest class sizes seen in preschool.

Statewide, Letcher County ranked 54th in enrollment numbers. It was also ranked 54th 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 1st Grade Students Enrolled	% of Student Body	Total Enrollment
West Whitesburg Elementary School	68	15.3%	444
Martha Jane Potter Elementary School	64	19.3%	332
Jenkins Independent School	38	6.9%	547
Letcher Elementary & Middle School	37	9.5%	390
Cowan Elementary School	31	10.8%	286
Arlie Boggs Elementary School	26	19.5%	133