1
Enrollment
586
Elementary
DISTRICT 452 · STATE 421
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·FAYETTE COUNTY·NCES 210186002486
Brenda Cowan Elementary
4801 Athens-Boonesboro Road, Lexington, KY 40509 · (859) 381-4000 · Fayette County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY41-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL586 STUDENTS
B-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 50% of Kentucky public elementary schools
- BTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- C+Beats 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
Student : Teacher
13.5:1
43 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 12.3:1 · STATE 15.4:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
45%
263 students
DISTRICT 56% · 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
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 44 | 8% |
| Kindergarten | 90 | 15% |
| Grade 1 | 90 | 15% |
| Grade 2 | 92 | 16% |
| Grade 3 | 107 | 18% |
| Grade 4 | 82 | 14% |
| Grade 5 | 81 | 14% |
This year's kindergarten class (90) is 11% larger than its 5th grade class (81).
Student demographics
74%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 71% · STATE 47% · US 70%
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
Test scores
KSA (K-PREP) 2024-25 . % Proficient/DistinguishedEnglish Language Arts
58.0%
KY avg 47.9%
Math
43.7%
KY avg 42.8%
What this means: On the KSA (K-PREP), Kentucky's statewide test, about 58 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 44 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 · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
47.7%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
48.3%
based on KY schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-0.6pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 48% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 48% 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 Brenda Cowan Elementary
Brenda Cowan Elementary's state test result (47.7% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brenda Cowan Elementary this school | 586 | 44.9% | 47.7% |
| Wellington Elementary Lexington | 608 | 36.0% | 66.9% |
| Bowen Elementary Louisville | 729 | 42.7% | 47.0% |
| Wheeler Elementary Louisville | 626 | 45.0% | 49.9% |
| Middletown Elementary Louisville | 573 | 48.7% | 37.3% |
| Meadowthorpe Elementary School Lexington | 517 | 48.0% | 65.0% |
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 Brenda Cowan Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Kentucky | In Fayette County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 47.7% | #270 of 669 | #16 of 37 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 43.7% | #341 of 668 | #18 of 36 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 58.0% | #194 of 674 | #15 of 37 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 586 | #138 of 744 | #14 of 42 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 13.5:1 | #154 of 674 | #25 of 38 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 73.7% | #14 of 674 | #2 of 38 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 44.9% | #630 of 721 | #25 of 39 |
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 2024-25Enrollment
586
+83 (+17%) vs 2020
Student : Teacher
13.5:1
was 14.8:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 586 | 43.3 | 13.5:1 | 45% (263) |
| 2023-24 | 570 | 44.6 | 12.8:1 | 44% (250) |
| 2022-23 | 537 | 41.9 | 12.8:1 | 47% (255) |
| 2020-21 | 503 | 34 | 14.8:1 | 44% (219) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Brenda Cowan Elementary.
About Brenda Cowan Elementary
Brenda Cowan Elementary is an elementary school in Lexington, Kentucky, reachable at (859) 381-4000. The school serves pre-K through 5. Enrollment is 586 students. By comparison, elementary schools in Kentucky enroll about 421 students on average.
Within Fayette County, Brenda Cowan Elementary is one of 73 schools. The district enrolls 42,138 students.
The largest group at Brenda Cowan Elementary is White students, at 41%. After that, the student body is 20% Black, 16% Asian, 12% Hispanic, and 10% multiracial. Census figures show Fayette County is about 68% White. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, Brenda Cowan Elementary scores 74%.
Brenda Cowan Elementary lists 43.3 full-time-equivalent teachers; that is about 13.5 students per teacher. Across elementary schools in Kentucky, the average ratio is 15.4:1. Free or reduced-price lunch covers 45% of the student body.
Brenda Cowan Elementary earns a B- on the allk12 Grade, which blends test scores, results against poverty-based expectations, and the three-year trend. It scored higher than 50% of Kentucky public elementary schools.
Brenda Cowan Elementary sits between the top and bottom 10% of Kentucky schools on BeatsExpectations, with an actual average proficiency rate across its state test results of 47.7% and a predicted 48.3%.
Fayette County is the school's county. There, the median household earns about $69,479 a year, roughly 48% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 9%. Brenda Cowan Elementary shares Fayette County with 80 other public schools.
Edythe Jones Hayes Middle School is about 0.5 miles away, making it the nearest public school. Other public schools within five miles number at least 8. Ranked by average proficiency, Brenda Cowan Elementary places 6th out of 7 schools in its immediate area.
NCES lists the school's locale as Rural: Fringe. That means it sits in rural territory close to an urban area.
By 2024-25, enrollment had risen to 586, from 503 in 2020-21. By 2024-25, the school had 13.5 students per teacher, compared with 14.8 in 2020-21.
This page is a place to ask questions and share updates about fundraisers, report cards, and school supplies at Brenda Cowan Elementary. Members of the school community can share what they know.
Fayette County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
323,725
Census ACS
Median income
$69,479
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
48%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
9%
Below federal line
Schools in county
81
42,142 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Fayette County
- Lafayette High SchoolHigh · 2,370 students
- Bryan Station High SchoolHigh · 2,030 students
- Henry Clay High SchoolHigh · 1,939 students
- Paul Laurence Dunbar High SchoolHigh · 1,828 students
- Frederick Douglass High SchoolHigh · 1,770 students
- Tates Creek High SchoolHigh · 1,723 students
Other schools in Lexington
- Lafayette High SchoolHigh · 2,370 students
- Bryan Station High SchoolHigh · 2,030 students
- Henry Clay High SchoolHigh · 1,939 students
- Paul Laurence Dunbar High SchoolHigh · 1,828 students
- Frederick Douglass High SchoolHigh · 1,770 students
- Tates Creek High SchoolHigh · 1,723 students
Nearby schools
- Edythe Jones Hayes Middle School0.5 mi · 1,125
- Athens-Chilesburg Elementary1.3 mi · 620
- Garrett Morgan Elementary2.1 mi · 746
- Ridge Hospital Alt. Elementary2.9 mi · 1
- Ridge Hospital Alt. High School2.9 mi · 11
- Squires Elementary School3.0 mi · 447
Frequently asked questions
About Brenda Cowan ElementaryWhat is the total enrollment at Brenda Cowan Elementary?
Brenda Cowan Elementary enrolls approximately 586 students in grades PK-05.
What grades does Brenda Cowan Elementary serve?
Brenda Cowan Elementary serves grades PK-05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Brenda Cowan Elementary?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Brenda Cowan Elementary is approximately 13.5:1 (43 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Brenda Cowan Elementary?
At Brenda Cowan Elementary, the student body is approximately 41% White, 12% Hispanic, 20% Black, 16% Asian, 10% Two or more.
Is Brenda Cowan Elementary public or private?
Brenda Cowan Elementary is a public K-12 school, overseen by Fayette County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.