The top reported proficiency rate is 39% in English language arts. The lowest is 27% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Bourbon Central Elementary School
Bourbon Central Elementary School serves students from kindergarten through fifth grade in the Bourbon County school district, one of two public school systems covering the small historic city of Paris, Kentucky. Paris is the county seat of Bourbon County, a community built around a traditional downtown grid, thoroughbred horse farms, and a mix of light manufacturing. The town sits within the Lexington–Fayette metropolitan area, roughly a short drive northeast of Lexington. Home values in the area run close to the state average, and rents are moderate, though values have edged slightly downward in the most recent period. The city has seen population growth in the last decade after a period of decline, and its official materials describe goals around sustainable development and expanded educational opportunities.
The school itself enrolls a mid-sized student body for an elementary school. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which indicates a community with significant economic need. The student population is predominantly white, with a notable Hispanic share and smaller shares of Black and multiracial students. The school does not report its share of students with disabilities or English learners, so families who want to understand supports for those groups would need to ask the school directly.
Academically, Bourbon Central Elementary participates in Kentucky’s statewide summative assessments in math, reading, science, and social studies. The most recent results show proficiency rates below the majority mark in every subject and grade level tested. Reading rates were somewhat higher than math rates across grades three through five, while math and science proficiency fell in a lower range. Social studies, tested only in grade five, was comparable to reading. The school’s overall proficiency index, which averages results across all tested subjects and grades, places it above the midpoint relative to the two districts in Bourbon County. Because the county has only two districts, that means Bourbon Central performs slightly above the average of the two systems—a relatively strong standing within a small local comparison set. Still, a parent may want to look into what specific interventions or instructional approaches the school uses in math and science, where proficiency was lower.
The school is a regular public school with no charter or magnet designation. No information about course offerings, staffing ratios, discipline, or attendance patterns was available in the data. The district brief turned up no publicly reported recent policy or budget changes that would affect families. Paris offers some civic and cultural anchors—a library, a museum, an arboretum, and periodic arts events—but the search did not find specific details about the school’s campus location relative to downtown.
For a family considering this school, Bourbon Central Elementary sits in a small-city setting with a working agricultural and manufacturing base, housing that is moderately priced for the region, and a district that is the better-performing of the two in the county. The academic results suggest room for growth, particularly in math and science, and the school’s economic profile points to a student body with elevated need. Families who value a small-town Kentucky community and want an elementary school that is part of a county-wide system may find it a fit, though those with specific concerns about academic support or student demographics will want to follow up with the school directly to fill in the gaps not covered here.
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