Mayfield Middle School, Mayfield KY

Original Research by School Decision on Mayfield Middle School

Mayfield Middle School is a regular public school serving fifth through eighth grade in the Mayfield Independent district. It sits in the heart of Mayfield, a small Graves County city that has been slowly losing population over recent decades and is still working through recovery after a devastating EF4 tornado leveled much of its downtown in December 2021. The tornado destroyed the Graves County Courthouse and damaged the candle factory that is a major local employer. The city is in a rebuilding phase. The district itself has not reported any notable parent-relevant changes in recent years, according to publicly available information.

Academically, the school’s overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades sits above the midpoint when measured against the two school districts in Graves County. That is a straightforward positive: for a middle school in this region, it places in the stronger half of the small comparison set. Still, the performance picture varies by subject and grade. In math, the share of students reaching proficiency climbs from grade five to grade eight, with the lower grades showing more ground to cover. English language arts follows a similar pattern: grade five and grade eight proficiency is lower than grades six and seven, where about half of students meet the bar. Science is tested only in grade seven, and the proficiency rate there is below half. Social studies, tested in grades five and eight, shows a higher result in eighth grade than in fifth. So a family could expect some unevenness by subject and by the year their child is in. A parent may want to talk with the school about how it supports students who arrive below proficiency in the early middle-school years, especially in reading and math.

The student body is diverse for rural Kentucky. White students make up the largest group, followed by a substantial Hispanic enrollment, with smaller shares of Black students and students of two or more races. Just over seven in ten students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, a measure that signals a high-poverty school environment. This is a school where a large majority of families face economic stress, and that context matters for understanding both the academic challenges and the wraparound support the school likely provides. The school operates as a regular public school, not a charter or magnet. State data on special education and English learner populations was not available in this profile, and no program offerings were listed, so a parent should ask the school directly about those supports and any advanced coursework or enrichment available at this level.

Housing in the Mayfield area is more affordable than Kentucky’s typical home value, which itself sits well below the national average. The local housing market has seen a slight dip year over year, and the broader economic picture includes a stable but not booming job market anchored in manufacturing, healthcare, and agriculture. For a family relocating to the area, the school sits within an older grid of residential streets, and the post-tornado downtown reconstruction is an ongoing reality.

No attendance or discipline data was reported here, and the school has no graduation rate because it does not serve high school grades. The district’s high school is separate. This middle school is the academic bridge for students in Mayfield before they move on. For a parent considering Mayfield Middle School, the key takeaway is a school that holds its own within a small county district, serves a high-poverty and diverse community, and operates in a city that is still recovering from a natural disaster while facing demographic decline. Understanding the local context and digging into how the school addresses the uneven proficiency results across grades will be important steps.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 535%

School 35% · District 35%

▼ 7 pts below state median

Grade 647%

School 47% · District 47%

▲ 5 pts above state median

Grade 749%

School 49% · District 49%

▲ 6 pts above state median

Grade 853%

School 53% · District 53%

▲ 12 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 544%

School 44% · District 44%

▼ 7 pts below state median

Grade 650%

School 50% · District 50%

▼ 4 pts below state median

Grade 751%

School 51% · District 51%

▲ 2 pts above state median

Grade 838%

School 38% · District 38%

▼ 4 pts below state median

Science

Grade 735%

School 35% · District 35%

▲ 5 pts above state median

Social studies

Grade 532%

School 32% · District 32%

▼ 6 pts below state median

Grade 842%

School 42% · District 42%

▲ 4 pts above state median

This schoolMayfield Independent, 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 5Lower-income38%Higher-income60%22 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income47%Higher-income61%14 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income48%Higher-income56%8 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income33%Higher-income53%20 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income31%Higher-income45%14 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income41%Higher-income64%23 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income46%Higher-income54%8 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income49%Higher-income63%14 pp gap