Best Public Schools in Blackey, KY

The city of Blackey, Kentucky has only one school, Letcher Elementary & Middle School, which serves grades K-8 and has a total enrollment of 336 students. The school is part of the Letcher County school district, which is ranked 95 out of 157 districts in the state and has a 2-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Letcher Elementary & Middle School faces significant challenges in providing a high-quality education to its students. The school's academic performance, as measured by proficiency rates in core subjects, is generally below the district and state averages. In particular, the school's math proficiency rates are consistently lower than the Letcher County and Kentucky state averages across all grade levels. While the school's reading proficiency rates are mixed, with some grades performing above the district and state, the school's science, writing, and social studies proficiency rates are also below the district and state averages.

Additionally, Letcher Elementary & Middle School has a high chronic absenteeism rate of 25.0% for the 2024-2025 school year, which is a significant concern as chronic absenteeism is closely linked to lower academic achievement and increased risk of dropout. The school also has a relatively high percentage of students (79.46%) receiving free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a high level of economic disadvantage. Despite the relatively high per-student spending of $22,186 for the 2023-2024 school year and a low student-teacher ratio of 11.8, the school's academic performance suggests that the resources may not be effectively utilized or targeted to address the specific needs of the student population.