Bondurant Middle School, Frankfort KY

Original Research by School Decision on Bondurant Middle School

Bondurant Middle School serves sixth through eighth grade in Frankfort, Kentucky, as part of the Franklin County school district. It is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet school, and the available data does not indicate it receives Title I funding. The district itself has not had recent parent-relevant changes publicly reported that would materially shift the experience for families.

Frankfort is a small state capital where public administration is the dominant industry. The Kentucky River runs through the city, with a walkable downtown core of historic government buildings and a university presence at Kentucky State University, an HBCU and land-grant institution, located within city limits. Suburban areas on the city’s east and west sides are more auto-oriented. The housing market for the area shows home values slightly above the state benchmark, with rents that have risen modestly over the past year. The mix of government, manufacturing, and distilleries shapes the local economy, and the population has been relatively stable, with no major new housing developments identified.

The school’s enrollment is composed predominantly of white students, with smaller shares of Hispanic, Black, and multiracial students. More than half of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a key indicator of a high-poverty student body.

On state assessments, proficiency rates decline across grade levels in math. In sixth grade, a modest share of students met the proficient or distinguished threshold. That share dropped in seventh grade and fell further in eighth grade. In English language arts, just under half of sixth graders reached proficiency, while the share in seventh and eighth grades settled in a lower band. Science, tested in seventh grade, showed a low rate of proficiency. In eighth-grade social studies, fewer than a third of students scored proficient or above.

When measured against other schools in Franklin County, Bondurant Middle School’s overall proficiency index, which averages performance across tested subjects and grades, places in the bottom quartile. The county has only two school districts, so the comparison set is narrow, but within that scope the school’s results sit at the lower end.

No data is available on chronic absenteeism, discipline, course access, or staffing, which limits a fuller picture of daily school life. The absence of these metrics is not uncommon for a middle school, but a parent may want to ask the school directly about attendance patterns and the range of elective or enrichment courses offered.

Bondurant is a school where academic performance is a clear soft spot, particularly in math and science, where proficiency rates are well below half across all grades. The student body carries a high level of economic need, and the school serves middle grades only, so there is no graduation rate to report. Families moving to Frankfort who are choosing a middle school may want to investigate what academic interventions or support structures are in place, and whether the school’s day-to-day environment aligns with their child’s needs.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 636%

School 36% · District 34% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▼ 6 pts below state median

Grade 732%

School 32% · District 37% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 11 pts below state median

Grade 825%

School 25% · District 26% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median

English language arts

Grade 649%

School 49% · District 46% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▼ 5 pts below state median

Grade 738%

School 38% · District 42% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 11 pts below state median

Grade 837%

School 37% · District 37%

▼ 5 pts below state median

Science

Grade 719%

School 19% · District 23% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 11 pts below state median

Social studies

Grade 829%

School 29% · District 34% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 9 pts below state median

This schoolFranklin 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-income35%Higher-income65%30 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income28%Higher-income54%26 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income25%Higher-income50%25 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income22%Higher-income55%33 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income23%Higher-income46%23 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income13%Higher-income38%25 pp gap