Summary:
Grayson, Kentucky, has five listed schools serving elementary, middle and high school grades: Carter City Elementary School, Prichard Elementary School, Heritage Elementary School, East Carter Middle School and East Carter County High School. The most important finding is the sharp divide in results: Carter City’s reported elementary math and reading scores were well above state results, while East Carter Middle’s reported math and reading scores were below state results in every tested grade.
Carter City stands out at the top of the available elementary comparisons: its fifth-grade math was 81%, compared with 46% at Prichard and 44% at Heritage; its fifth-grade reading was 75%, versus 49% at Prichard. At the other end, East Carter Middle’s math was 24%, 30% and 34% in grades 6–8, respectively 18, 9 and 5 percentage points below state results. Other schools have subject-specific strengths: Prichard’s fifth-grade writing was 47%, 12 points above the state, while East Carter County High’s eleventh-grade writing was 57%, 10 points above. Heritage’s fifth-grade editing and mechanics reached 59%, 11 points above the state, despite its fourth-grade reading result of 28%, 22 points below.
Recent patterns reinforce the differences. SchoolDigger’s statewide percentile ranking rose for Carter City from 79 to 93 between 2024–25 and 2025–26, while East Carter Middle’s fell from 36 to 22; East Carter High ranked at the 63rd percentile in 2025–26. Across matched test comparisons, the average gap to state results shifted from 1 point above in 2024–25 to 1 point below in 2025–26. Enrollment and other measures add context, not explanations: Carter City has 117 students and a 12.2 student-teacher ratio, compared with 490 students and a 20.6 ratio at East Carter Middle. For 2024–25, free/reduced lunch eligible rates were 62% at Carter City, 64% at Prichard and 77% at Heritage. Scores are not available for every school, grade and subject, and some results are suppressed.
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