Best Public Schools in Lexington, KY

The Lexington directory lists 69 schools: 39 elementary, 12 middle and 18 high schools, serving families across the city; the comparisons here use only the supplied records, not every school in the directory. Results vary widely even within the same grade and subject: among reported Grade 8 math scores, Scapa at Bluegrass scored 89%, while Success Academy scored 4%. The biggest takeaway for families is that performance depends greatly on the school and subject, with this Grade 8 math comparison spanning 85 percentage points.

Several schools stand out in the supplied results. SchoolDigger ranked Scapa at Bluegrass second among 326 middle schools, and it had 89% proficiency in Grade 8 math and 92% in reading. SchoolDigger ranked Lafayette High School eighth among 262 high schools; it led the reported high-school results in five of six subjects, including 60% in Grade 10 math and 63% in Grade 11 social studies. Opportunity Middle College topped Grade 11 writing at 70%, compared with Lafayette’s 62%. At elementary level, Clays Mill Elementary led Grade 5 reading, writing and social studies, while Cassidy Elementary scored 81% in both Grade 5 reading and editing and mechanics. Lower reported results include Success Academy’s 4% in Grade 8 math and The Learning Center’s 9% in Grade 8 reading.

Change over time is mixed: the seven-school high-school comparison was roughly unchanged relative to the state overall, but Lafayette’s state-relative gaps improved by 35 points across six subjects, while Henry Clay High School’s fell by 21 points. SchoolDigger rank percentiles also shifted: Rise STEM Academy for Girls rose from the 42nd to the 82nd percentile, while Squires Elementary moved from the 80th to the 42nd. Income measures are context, not explanations: in school year 2024–2025, Meadowthorpe had 48% free/reduced lunch eligible and led Grade 5 math at 83% and editing and mechanics at 84%.