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Does Southern High have enough mental health and stress support?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
1,725
High
DISTRICT 862 · STATE 558
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·JEFFERSON COUNTY·NCES 210299000637
Southern High
8620 Preston Highway, Louisville, KY 40219 · (502) 485-8330 · Jefferson County
GRADES 09–12HIGH11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL1,725 STUDENTS
F
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 1% of Kentucky public high schools
- FTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- FBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
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 high schools
Student : Teacher
17.6:1
98 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 11.7:1 · STATE 16.6:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
65%
1,117 students
DISTRICT 65% · STATE 63%
Community
6
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other high schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 9 | 492 | 29% |
| Grade 10 | 456 | 26% |
| Grade 11 | 422 | 24% |
| Grade 12 | 348 | 20% |
| Ungraded | 7 | 0% |
Student demographics
69%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 72% · 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
23.0%
KY avg 47.9%
Math
17.0%
KY avg 42.8%
What this means: On the KSA (K-PREP), Kentucky's statewide test, about 23 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 17 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
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of KY schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
16.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
41.0%
based on KY schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-24.5pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 17% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 41% typical for Kentucky schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
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 Southern High
Southern High's state test result (16.5% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southern High this school | 1,725 | 64.8% | 16.5% |
| Bryan Station High School Lexington | 2,030 | 61.7% | 30.5% |
| Seneca High Louisville | 1,255 | 67.8% | 20.3% |
| Fairdale High Fairdale | 1,405 | 65.6% | 23.0% |
| Marion C. Moore School Louisville | 1,892 | 67.7% | 17.8% |
| Doss High Louisville | 1,235 | 70.0% | 8.3% |
Matched among Kentucky high 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 Southern High ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Kentucky | In Jefferson County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 16.5% | #207 of 211 | #15 of 19 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 17.0% | #203 of 211 | #12 of 19 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 23.0% | #205 of 211 | #13 of 19 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 1,725 | #19 of 304 | #7 of 35 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 17.6:1 | #139 of 217 | #19 of 23 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 69.2% | #13 of 217 | #5 of 23 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 64.8% | #72 of 230 | #17 of 25 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +28.2% | #9 of 72 | #2 of 11 |
Ranked against other public high 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
1,725
+401 (+30%) vs 2020
+21% since 1990-91, when it was 1,424
Student : Teacher
17.6:1
was 15.6:1
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 | 1,725 | 98.2 | 17.6:1 | 65% (1,117) |
| 2023-24 | 1,540 | 90.2 | 17.1:1 | 66% (1,011) |
| 2022-23 | 1,387 | 80.9 | 17.1:1 | 69% (955) |
| 2020-21 | 1,324 | 85 | 15.6:1 | 61% (814) |
| 2017-18 | 1,346 | 86.5 | 15.6:1 | 68% (911) |
| 2015-16 | 1,207 | 80 | 15.1:1 | 65% (788) |
| 2010-11 | 1,238 | 80 | 15.5:1 | 69% (854) |
| 2000-01 | 1,476 | 81 | 18.2:1 | 37% (547) |
| 1990-91 | 1,424 | 70 | 20.3:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Southern High.
Since 2017-18: students up 28% (1,346 to 1,725); teachers up 14% (86.5 to 98.2).
About Southern High
Southern High, a high-enrollment high school, is located in Louisville, Kentucky. Enrollment in 2024-25 was 1,725 students in grades 9 through 12. Against the 558-student average for high schools in Kentucky, enrollment here is 209% higher.
Jefferson County has 95,124 students spread across 167 schools.
Southern High has no majority group; Hispanic students are the largest, at 40%. Other students are 29% Black, 25% White, 4% multiracial, and 2% Asian. By comparison, Jefferson County residents are about 9% Hispanic. The school's diversity index is 69%, meaning two students picked at random have a 69% chance of belonging to different racial or ethnic groups.
The school reported 98.2 full-time-equivalent teachers in 2024-25 and a ratio of 17.6:1. The school has more students per teacher than the 16.6:1 average for high schools in Kentucky. Eligible students account for 65% of enrollment in the free or reduced-price lunch program.
Measured against Kentucky public high schools, Southern High receives an F. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
Southern High is a bottom-10% school in Kentucky on BeatsExpectations, with an actual average proficiency rate on state tests of 16.5% against a predicted 41.0%.
In the county around the school, Jefferson County, the median household income is $69,866, about 37% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and roughly 11% of residents are in poverty. Jefferson County is home to 175 public schools and about 95,579 public school students.
Blake Elementary is the public school closest to Southern High, about 0.7 miles away. The count of other public schools within five miles is at least 8. Ranked by average proficiency, Southern High places 8th out of 9 schools in its immediate area.
Its NCES locale code is City: Large: the school is inside a principal city with a population of 250,000 or more.
Enrollment has grown by 401 students since 2020-21, to 1,725. Over the same period, the student-to-teacher ratio rose to 17.6:1, from 15.6:1.
Community posts for Southern High can cover science fairs, picture day, and bus routes. Alumni can share how the school prepared them.
Jefferson County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
783,022
Census ACS
Median income
$69,866
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
37%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
11%
Below federal line
Schools in county
175
95,579 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Jefferson County
- Ballard HighHigh · 2,148 students
- duPont Manual HighHigh · 1,899 students
- Marion C. Moore SchoolHigh · 1,892 students
- Eastern HighHigh · 1,790 students
- Pleasure Ridge Park HighHigh · 1,777 students
- Louisville Male HighHigh · 1,763 students
Other schools in Louisville
- Ballard HighHigh · 2,148 students
- duPont Manual HighHigh · 1,899 students
- Marion C. Moore SchoolHigh · 1,892 students
- Pleasure Ridge Park HighHigh · 1,777 students
- Louisville Male HighHigh · 1,763 students
- Fern Creek HighHigh · 1,525 students
Other Southern High schools
3 other US public schools in 4 states are named Southern High. Southern High is the largest of the 4.
- Southern HighHarwood, MD · 1,080 students
- SOUTHERN HIGH SCHOOLSANTA RITA, GU · 1,054 students
- Southern High SchoolRacine, OH · 185 students
Nearby schools
- Blake Elementary0.7 mi · 561
- Okolona Elementary1.1 mi · 417
- Hartstern Elementary1.3 mi · 597
- Blue Lick Elementary1.5 mi · 508
- Knight Middle1.6 mi · 757
- Minors Lane Elementary1.8 mi · 370
Frequently asked questions
About Southern HighWhat is the total enrollment at Southern High?
Southern High enrolls approximately 1,725 students in grades 09-12.
What grades does Southern High serve?
Southern High serves grades 09-12.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Southern High?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Southern High is approximately 17.6:1 (98 FTE teachers).
What is the student diversity at Southern High?
Student demographics at Southern High are roughly 25% White, 40% Hispanic, 29% Black, 2% Asian, 4% Two or more.
Who oversees Southern High?
Southern High is overseen by Jefferson County in Jefferson County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.