NC Kentucky News

There were 578 eighth grade students enrolled in Nelson County schools in the 2022-23 school year, 2.7% less than the previous year, according to the Kentucky Department of Education.

Bardstown Middle School welcomed most of the eighth grade students in the county, registering 201 students.

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

Statewide, Nelson County ranked 23rd in enrollment numbers. It was also ranked 23rd 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
Bardstown Middle School	201	33.3%	603
Bloomfield Middle School	146	38.9%	375
Old Kentucky Home Middle School	122	31.8%	384
The New Haven School	49	12%	409
Boston School	45	10.8%	417
The Academy at Horizons	12	10.3%	117
Bardstown Alternative School	3	3.9%	77