East Pennyroyal News

There were 226 sixth grade students enrolled in Russell County schools in the 2022-23 school year, 2.2% less than the previous year, according to the Kentucky Department of Education.

Russell County Middle School is the only school in the county that welcomed sixth grade students.

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

Statewide, Russell County ranked 63rd in enrollment numbers. It was also ranked 63rd 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
Russell County Middle School	226	31.9%	708