Scapa at Bluegrass, Lexington KY

Original Research by School Decision on Scapa at Bluegrass

Scapa At Bluegrass is a regular public school in Lexington, Kentucky, serving fourth through eighth grade. It sits within the Fayette County Public Schools system. The school draws from a city that blends a major university town with the global thoroughbred horse industry, a consolidated city-county that is home to the University of Kentucky, Keeneland race course, and a growing bourbon distillery presence. The school itself is a middle-level building, not a charter or magnet, and no Title I status was reported.

The academic picture is strong. On Kentucky’s state summative assessments for the most recent year, students posted high proficiency rates across every tested grade and subject. In mathematics, the share of students scoring proficient or above rose from a solid level in fourth grade to very high levels in seventh and eighth grade. English language arts results were similarly strong, with each grade from fourth through eighth showing a large majority of students meeting the bar. Science results were available for seventh grade and were also high; fourth-grade science data was suppressed, a common reporting practice when student counts are small. In social studies, fifth and eighth graders both performed at a high level. Taken together, these results place Scapa At Bluegrass as a school that consistently delivers strong academic outcomes across its entire grade span.

Enrollment is modest for a middle school, with roughly the low hundreds of students spread across five grade levels, each with roughly comparable class sizes. The student body is majority white, with smaller shares of Asian, Black, Hispanic, and multiracial students. The share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch is below what is typical in many public schools, indicating a generally lower level of economic need among the families served. Data on students with individualized education programs and English learners was not available, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about special education services and English language support.

The school sits in Lexington, where the housing market reflects the city’s status as a regional economic and educational hub. Home values and rents are moderate relative to national benchmarks, and the area has seen modest appreciation. Lexington’s growth is shaped by the nation’s first urban growth boundary, which directs new development to an urban service area and preserves surrounding horse farms and open space. The city’s largest employer is the University of Kentucky, and the economy is also driven by healthcare, horse-related industries, and bourbon tourism. For a family considering this school, the neighborhood context is a city with stable economic anchors and controlled development patterns.

No graduation rate is reported because Scapa At Bluegrass does not serve high school grades; its students move on to a Fayette County high school after eighth grade. Chronic absenteeism data was not available, and neither was discipline or staffing information. The comparison set that would position this school relative to other districts in Fayette County was too small to produce any meaningful contrast, as Fayette County is a single unified district. A parent or resident evaluating this school will find the strongest evidence in the assessment results, which show a clear pattern of high academic performance. For questions about student support services, program offerings, or the school’s specific instructional approach, a direct conversation with the school would fill the gaps left by the data.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 469%

School 69% · District 49% · ▲ 20 pts above district

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

Grade 566%

School 66% · District 49% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

Grade 671%

School 71% · District 44% · ▲ 27 pts above district

▲ 29 pts above state median · ▲ 22 pts above county median

Grade 792%

School 92% · District 50% · ▲ 42 pts above district

▲ 49 pts above state median · ▲ 44 pts above county median

Grade 890%

School 90% · District 45% · ▲ 45 pts above district

▲ 49 pts above state median · ▲ 52 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 487%

School 87% · District 53% · ▲ 34 pts above district

▲ 37 pts above state median · ▲ 38 pts above county median

Grade 581%

School 81% · District 53% · ▲ 28 pts above district

▲ 30 pts above state median · ▲ 29 pts above county median

Grade 685%

School 85% · District 55% · ▲ 30 pts above district

▲ 31 pts above state median · ▲ 31 pts above county median

Grade 794%

School 94% · District 53% · ▲ 41 pts above district

▲ 45 pts above state median · ▲ 45 pts above county median

Grade 883%

School 83% · District 48% · ▲ 35 pts above district

▲ 41 pts above state median · ▲ 40 pts above county median

Science

Grade 781%

School 81% · District 33% · ▲ 48 pts above district

▲ 51 pts above state median · ▲ 45 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 574%

School 74% · District 43% · ▲ 31 pts above district

▲ 36 pts above state median · ▲ 33 pts above county median

Grade 882%

School 82% · District 47% · ▲ 35 pts above district

▲ 44 pts above state median · ▲ 35 pts above county median

This schoolFayette County, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income31%Higher-income81%50 pp gap