SE Kentucky News

There were 235 fourth grade students enrolled in Clay County schools in the 2022-23 school year, 11.3% less than the previous year, according to the Kentucky Department of Education.

Manchester Elementary School welcomed most of the fourth grade students in the county, registering 57 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 4th Grade Students Enrolled	% of Student Body	Total Enrollment
Manchester Elementary School	57	13%	438
Paces Creek Elementary School	43	12.5%	345
Burning Springs Elementary School	37	11%	337
Hacker Elementary School	34	11.8%	288
Goose Rock Elementary School	29	11.8%	246
Big Creek Elementary School	20	13.2%	151
Oneida Elementary School	15	11.5%	131