Summary:
Carlisle, Kentucky, has two schools in Nicholas County: Nicholas County Elementary School serves grades PK–6 with 645 students, and Nicholas County High School serves grades 7–12 with 435 students. In 2025–2026, the elementary school’s reported results averaged 18 points below matched state results, and the high school’s averaged 12 points below; these averages combine different grades and subjects, so they are not a direct school-to-school comparison. The clearest overall finding is that 23 of the 24 reported school results were below their matched state results.
Each school has a different relative strength, and neither leads across all subjects. The elementary school’s strongest result was third-grade math, at 35% proficient compared with 43% statewide, an 8-point gap; its weakest was fifth-grade writing, 11% versus 35%, a 24-point gap. The high school’s standout was eleventh-grade writing: 50% versus 47% statewide, 3 points above; its largest shortfall was eighth-grade writing, 25% versus 48%, or 23 points below. High-school editing and mechanics was comparatively close to the state: 40% versus 42% in eighth grade and 34% versus 40% in eleventh grade.
Recent trends and school context offer further distinctions. Elementary reading averaged 39% in 2025–2026, up 5 points from the prior year, while elementary math fell 5 points to 25%; fifth-grade reading rose 15 points, from 21% to 36%. Across matched high-school results, the average gap widened by about 4 points over the two supplied years. SchoolDigger’s ranking percentile changed from 13th to 11th for the elementary school and from 47th to 28th for the high school; the high school’s rating also fell from 2 stars to 1, while the elementary school remained at 1 star. The high school’s student–teacher ratio is 18.1:1 versus 17.6:1 at the elementary school. In 2024–2025, 57% of high-school students and 66% of elementary students were free/reduced lunch eligible; these figures provide context, not an explanation of outcomes.
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