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SCHOOL COMMUNITY·BALLARD COUNTY·NCES 210021000356

Ballard County Elementary School

3383 Paducah Rd, Barlow, KY 42024 · (270) 665-8400 · Ballard County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY42-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL444 STUDENTS
C
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 34% of Kentucky public elementary schools
  • C+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
  • CBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
  • ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.

Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Kentucky public elementary schools

Enrollment
444
Elementary
DISTRICT 269 · STATE 421
Student : Teacher
16.4:1
27 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 17.5:1 · STATE 15.4:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
61%
269 students
DISTRICT 61% · STATE 63%
Community
5
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.

Enrollment by grade, 2024-25

GradeStudentsShare
Kindergarten8018%
Grade 17918%
Grade 27717%
Grade 37818%
Grade 46314%
Grade 56715%

This year's kindergarten class (80) is 19% larger than its 5th grade class (67).

Student demographics
28%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 25% · STATE 47% · US 70%
White
37384%
DISTRICT 86% · STATE 71% · US 43%
Hispanic
123%
DISTRICT 2% · STATE 10% · US 30%
Black
133%
DISTRICT 3% · STATE 11% · US 15%
Asian
20%
DISTRICT 0% · STATE 2% · US 6%
Two+
4410%
DISTRICT 9% · STATE 6% · US 5%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Male
22250%
Female
22250%

School pathway

Students here typically continue to
Ballard County Elementary School→Ballard County Middle School
Feeds from
Ballard Co. Preschool/Headstart CenterPK–PK
Based on grade levels within Ballard County. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.

Discussions

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Test scores

KSA (K-PREP) 2024-25 . % Proficient/Distinguished
English Language Arts
49.0%
KY avg 47.9%
Math
37.0%
KY avg 42.8%

What this means: On the KSA (K-PREP), Kentucky's statewide test, about 49 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 37 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Kentucky schools, those numbers are about 48 and 43.

Source: KSA (K-PREP). All students, all grades. See all years and grades →

BeatsExpectations

Demographically-adjusted score · methodology
Tier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
40.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
42.5%
based on KY schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-2.5pp
below demographic expectation

What this means: About 40% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 43% typical for Kentucky schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Kentucky's top nor bottom 10%.

BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →

Schools most like Ballard County Elementary School

Ballard County Elementary School's state test result (40.0% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.

SchoolStudentsLow-incomeProficient
Ballard County Elementary School this school44460.6%40.0%
North Warren Elementary
Smiths Grove
43658.7%45.6%
Abraham Lincoln Elementary School
Hodgenville
48261.0%38.9%
Camp Dick Robinson Elementary School
Lancaster
44659.4%57.1%
Roy G. Eversole Elementary School
Hazard
45757.8%50.0%
Cedar Grove Elementary
Shepherdsville
44158.3%43.9%
Matched among Kentucky elementary schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.

Where Ballard County Elementary School ranks

Among elementary schools
MeasureThis schoolIn Kentucky
State test proficiency
ranked highest first
40.0%#421 of 669
Math proficiency
ranked highest first
37.0%#444 of 668
Reading proficiency
ranked highest first
49.0%#355 of 674
Enrollment
ranked largest first
444#341 of 744
Students per teacher
ranked fewest first
16.4:1#545 of 674
Diversity index
ranked most diverse first
28.3%#355 of 674
Free and reduced lunch
ranked highest share first
60.6%#459 of 721
Enrollment change since 2017-18
ranked steepest decline first
-16.5%#159 of 437
Ranked against other public elementary schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.

4-year change

SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25
Enrollment
444
-26 (-6%) vs 2020
-40% since 2000-01, when it was 742
Student : Teacher
16.4:1
was 14.7:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data

Enrollment and staffing by year

School yearStudentsTeachers (FTE)Students per teacherFree and reduced lunch
2024-254442716.4:161% (269)
2023-244633015.4:162% (287)
2022-2346732.514.4:158% (269)
2020-214703214.7:159% (275)
2017-185323117.2:165% (345)
2015-165283216.5:157% (299)
2010-116083219.0:157% (348)
2000-017423123.9:150% (369)
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Ballard County Elementary School.

Since 2017-18: students down 17% (532 to 444); teachers down 13% (31 to 27).

About Ballard County Elementary School

Ballard County Elementary School is a medium-sized elementary school in Ballard County, located in Barlow, Kentucky. Classes run from kindergarten through 5, and the school has 444 students.

Ballard County counts 4 schools and 1,015 students, including Ballard County Elementary School.

White students make up 84% of enrollment at Ballard County Elementary School. The remaining students are 10% multiracial, 3% Black, and 3% Hispanic. Ballard County Elementary School's diversity index is 28%, against a US figure of 70%.

Its teaching staff equals 27 full-time positions, a ratio of 16.4:1. That is higher than the 15.4:1 average for elementary schools in Kentucky. Free and reduced-price lunch eligibility, a common measure of family income, is 61%. For comparison, public schools in Ballard County average 59%.

Ballard County Elementary School is graded C by allk12, scoring above 34% of Kentucky public elementary schools once test results, poverty-adjusted performance, and the recent trend are combined.

Ballard County Elementary School's actual average proficiency rate on state tests (40.0%) and its predicted rate (42.5%) put it outside the top and bottom 10% of Kentucky schools.

Recent Census Bureau figures for Ballard County show that the median household income is $66,164, roughly 18% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 11%. Ballard County Elementary School is one of 5 public schools in the county.

The closest public school to Ballard County Elementary School is Ballard Co. Preschool/Headstart Center, less than a tenth of a mile away. Ballard County Elementary School is one of several public schools in the area, with 3 others within five miles. Among 7 nearby schools that report test results, Ballard County Elementary School ranks 5th on proficiency.

NCES lists the school's locale as Rural: Distant. That means it sits in rural territory some distance from an urban area.

The school enrolled 444 students in 2024-25, 26 fewer than the 470 it had in 2020-21. Staffing shifted too: the ratio moved from 14.7:1 to 16.4:1.

Posts about science fairs, picture day, and bus routes are welcome on this page. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.

Ballard County at a glance

View full county profile
Population
7,654
Census ACS
Median income
$66,164
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
18%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
11%
Below federal line
Schools in county
5
1,015 students

Quick facts

School name
Ballard County Elementary School
District
Ballard County
Address
3383 Paducah Rd, Barlow, KY 42024
Phone
(270) 665-8400
County
Ballard County
Level
Elementary
Grade range
KG–05
Total enrollment
444
Teachers (FTE)
27
Student–teacher ratio
16.4:1
Free and reduced lunch
269 (61%)
Locale
42-Rural: Distant
NCES ID
210021000356
Charter school
No
Virtual school
No

Related schools

Other schools in Ballard County
Other schools in Barlow
Nearby schools

Frequently asked questions

About Ballard County Elementary School
How many students attend Ballard County Elementary School?
Ballard County Elementary School enrolls approximately 444 students in grades KG-05.
Is Ballard County Elementary School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Ballard County Elementary School is an elementary school covering grades KG-05.
How many students per teacher at Ballard County Elementary School?
Approximately 16.4:1 students per teacher at Ballard County Elementary School.
What is the student diversity at Ballard County Elementary School?
Student demographics at Ballard County Elementary School are roughly 84% White, 3% Hispanic, 3% Black, 0% Asian, 10% Two or more.
What district is Ballard County Elementary School in?
Ballard County Elementary School is part of Ballard County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.
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