SE Kentucky News

There were 245 third grade students enrolled in Clay County schools in the 2022-23 school year, 2.5% more than the previous year, according to the Kentucky Department of Education.

Paces Creek Elementary School welcomed most of the third grade students in the county, registering 53 students.

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

Statewide, Clay County ranked 57th in enrollment numbers. It was also ranked 57th 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
Paces Creek Elementary School	53	15.4%	345
Burning Springs Elementary School	49	14.5%	337
Manchester Elementary School	45	10.3%	438
Hacker Elementary School	34	11.8%	288
Goose Rock Elementary School	32	13%	246
Big Creek Elementary School	17	11.3%	151
Oneida Elementary School	14	10.7%	131
Horse Creek Learning Center	1	0.5%	191