Ballard Memorial High School

Ballard Memorial High School, a compact four-year high school in Barlow, Kentucky, operated by Ballard County, enrolls 276 students, covering grades 9 through 12. Compared to the state average of about 558 students per school, that is 51% leaner than typical.

Ballard County runs 4 schools in total, collectively educating 1,015 students. Ballard Memorial High School is one of those campuses.

On the student-mix side, Ballard Memorial High School lists that nearly all students (88%) are White. The remainder comes out to 8% multiracial. That mix tracks the wider county fairly closely.

Looking at the economic backdrop, On paper, Ballard Memorial High School has 20 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 13.6:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 16.6:1, putting Ballard Memorial High School tighter than the state norm the norm. Roughly 54% of students at Ballard Memorial High School qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Ballard Memorial High School performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 45.0%, the actual is 49.0%, a residual of +4.0 points.

Around the school, census data for Ballard County shows median household earnings sit near $66,164, 18% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 11%. In all, Ballard County runs 5 public schools (combined enrollment of about 1,015 students), of which Ballard Memorial High School is one.

Nearest neighbor: Ballard County Middle School, around 0.1 miles off. 3 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Ballard Memorial High School at 4th of 7; the average score across the group is 40.3%.

Geographically, the school is in a low-density area.

Looking at the recent track record. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Ballard Memorial High School has fell 29%, going from 389 students in 2018 to 276 in 2025.

On allk12, the feed for Ballard Memorial High School typically covers fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.