East Pennyroyal News

There were 802 sixth grade students enrolled in Pulaski County schools in the 2022-23 school year, 0.5% more than the previous year, according to the Kentucky Department of Education.

Southern Middle School welcomed most of the sixth grade students in the county, registering 319 students.

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

Statewide, Pulaski County ranked 12th in enrollment numbers. It was also ranked 12th 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 6th Grade Students Enrolled	% of Student Body	Total Enrollment
Southern Middle School	319	31.4%	1,015
Northern Middle School	302	33.4%	904
Meece Middle School	130	25.9%	502
Science Hill Elementary School	51	10%	510