Elizabethtown Times

There were 416 eighth grade students enrolled in Meade County schools in the 2022-23 school year, 2.1% less than the previous year, according to the Kentucky Department of Education.

Stuart Pepper Middle School welcomed most of the eighth grade students in the county, registering 404 students.

Within Meade County schools, the highest student population was found in ninth grade, with the smallest class sizes seen in preschool.

Statewide, Meade County ranked 31st in enrollment numbers. It was also ranked 31st the year before.

Despite escaping some of the pandemic's educational disruptions, Kentucky's achievement gaps have remained an issue since 2019. In the eighth-grade reading assessments, for example, Hispanic students scored eight points lower than their white peers, and the gap reached 15 points in math. Black students fared even worse, falling more than 20 points behind and facing a failure rate nearly double that of their white counterparts.

School	# of 8th Grade Students Enrolled	% of Student Body	Total Enrollment
Stuart Pepper Middle School	404	49.9%	809
James R. Allen High School	12	11.4%	105