The top reported proficiency rate is 38% in Social studies. The lowest is 22% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Bourbon County Middle School
Bourbon County Middle School sits in Paris, Kentucky, a small historic city that serves as the county seat of Bourbon County. The school serves grades six through eight and is a regular public school within the Bourbon County Schools district. Paris blends a downtown commercial core with a residential community and an economy rooted in Thoroughbred horse farms, some manufacturing, and agriculture. The city is part of the Lexington metropolitan area and is located a short distance northeast of Lexington. The school itself is not located downtown, and like many county school campuses, it sits on the edge of town off Lexington Road.
The student body is diverse in income if not in racial composition. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The student population is predominantly White, with a meaningful Hispanic minority, a very small Black population, and a small share of students identifying as two or more races. There were no Asian, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, or American Indian or Alaska Native students reported. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the profile, a gap a parent may want to follow up on with the school directly.
Academically, the school's proficiency rates on the Kentucky Summative Assessment place it above the midpoint among the two districts in Bourbon County when considering overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades. But the results themselves show a school where most students are not reaching the proficient level. In math, proficiency rates declined slightly from grade six through grade eight, with roughly a third of sixth graders meeting the proficient benchmark, a similar share of seventh graders, and a bit more than a quarter of eighth graders. In English language arts, the pattern was similar, with about two-fifths of sixth graders proficient, a slightly lower share of seventh graders, and about a third of eighth graders. On the science assessment, which is given in seventh grade, roughly a fifth of students scored proficient. In social studies, tested in eighth grade, just under two-fifths of students were proficient. For a family used to schools where a majority of students meet state standards, these numbers will feel low. A parent moving into the district should understand that the typical student here is not meeting the proficiency bar in core subjects, and this is a school where academic support and improvement are ongoing priorities.
The school serves a moderate-sized middle school enrollment spread across grades six, seven, and eight. Because it is a middle school, there is no graduation rate to consider. The school environment data, including discipline, course access, staffing, and attendance, was not available in the profile, so it is hard to assess those aspects of daily life. The district brief turned up no publicly reported major changes to policy, curriculum, or tax structure in Bourbon County Schools, suggesting a period of relative stability at the district level.
A family considering this school should recognize it as a middle school in a rural Kentucky county seat, serving a predominantly White and lower-income population. The academic proficiency numbers are modest, and the school leans on the district for resources and direction. The absence of broader school environment data limits what can be said about the feel of the place, but the test results give a clear picture of the academic starting point. This is a school where a parent would want to engage directly with teachers and administration about how the school is working to move those proficiency numbers, what interventions are in place, and what the classroom experience looks like day to day.
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