Edythe Jones Hayes Middle School, Lexington KY

Original Research by School Decision on Edythe Jones Hayes Middle School

Edythe Jones Hayes Middle School is a regular public school in Fayette County, serving grades six through eight. It sits in Lexington, a consolidated city-county that blends a major university town with the global thoroughbred horse industry and a growing bourbon and distillery presence. The University of Kentucky, the state's flagship public university, anchors the city just south of downtown, and horse farms, Keeneland, and craft distilleries shape the local economy. Lexington has managed its growth through an urban growth boundary since the late 1950s, preserving rural open space and horse farms while concentrating development within the urban service area.

Hayes Middle School enrolls roughly a thousand students across three grade levels, making it a moderately large middle school for its community. The student body is predominantly white, with Asian, Black, and Hispanic students each making up a notable share and a smaller group of students identifying as two or more races. About a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing the school in a moderately affluent bracket with some economic diversity. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not reported, so a family with specific needs in those areas would want to ask the school directly.

On Kentucky's state assessments, Hayes students perform solidly in math and English language arts across all three grades. In math, proficiency rates are comfortably above the midpoint across the board, and in ELA they are similarly strong. Social studies, tested in eighth grade, also shows a majority of students meeting the proficient bar. Science, tested in seventh grade, is a softer spot: fewer than half of students scored at the proficient level. A parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand the science curriculum and any support available. State testing data for the school is reported by grade level, and the overall pattern is one of consistent performance in the core subjects with room for growth in science.

The school sits within Fayette County Public Schools, the single countywide district. We looked for publicly reported information about recent district developments such as bond measures, new construction, or strategic priorities but found little available material, so we cannot speak to those planned changes here. The housing market in the school's zip code reflects elevated home values, above both state and national medians, and rents that are relatively high, consistent with a city that has a strong university and equine-centered economy. For families considering a move, the area offers a mix of residential neighborhoods, a walkable downtown core near the university, and suburban corridors.

Graduation rate does not apply to a middle school, and data on chronic absenteeism, staffing ratios, discipline, and course access were not available in the dataset used here. A parent may want to follow up with the school for a fuller picture of student support and school climate.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 667%

School 67% · District 44% · ▲ 23 pts above district

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

Grade 771%

School 71% · District 50% · ▲ 21 pts above district

▲ 28 pts above state median · ▲ 23 pts above county median

Grade 876%

School 76% · District 45% · ▲ 31 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 675%

School 75% · District 55% · ▲ 20 pts above district

▲ 21 pts above state median · ▲ 21 pts above county median

Grade 769%

School 69% · District 53% · ▲ 16 pts above district

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 20 pts above county median

Grade 870%

School 70% · District 48% · ▲ 22 pts above district

▲ 28 pts above state median · ▲ 27 pts above county median

Science

Grade 744%

School 44% · District 33% · ▲ 11 pts above district

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 862%

School 62% · District 47% · ▲ 15 pts above district

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 15 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

English language arts

Grade 6Lower-income62%Higher-income83%21 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income55%Higher-income76%21 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income51%Higher-income78%27 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income49%Higher-income79%30 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income52%Higher-income81%29 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income63%Higher-income81%18 pp gap