Best Public Schools in Middlesboro, KY

Middlesboro, Kentucky, has five schools serving grades 3–11: two elementary schools, one middle school, and two high schools, including an alternative school. The 2025–2026 results show a wide divide between schools: in fifth-grade writing, Yellow Creek School Center had 64% of students proficient, compared with 15% at Middlesboro Middle School and 35% statewide. The most important finding is that school results vary substantially, so the city’s overall picture does not reflect what students experience at each school.

Yellow Creek is the strongest broad performer: it exceeded state results in 17 of 20 reported comparisons and averaged 18 points above the state across them. In eighth-grade math, it scored 67%, versus 26% at Middlesboro Middle and 39% statewide. Middlesboro High School also stood out, exceeding the state in five of six results and averaging 9 points above it; its graduation rate was 97%, compared with 94% statewide. At the other end, Middlesboro Middle fell below the state in 12 of 15 results and averaged 7 points below it. Middlesboro Elementary School was mixed, averaging 10 points below the state across four reported results, though its fourth-grade reading was 56% versus 50% statewide. SchoolDigger ranks Yellow Creek at the 82nd percentile and Middlesboro Elementary at the 26th.

Scores improved modestly overall: across matched results, school scores rose an average of 2 points, while state results were essentially flat. Yellow Creek had the clearest gain, averaging 3 points higher than the prior year; Middlesboro Middle and Middlesboro High each rose about 1 point on average, while Middlesboro Elementary was essentially unchanged. SchoolDigger’s latest rankings are 75th percentile for Middlesboro High and 40th for Middlesboro Middle. In 2024–2025, free/reduced lunch eligible shares ranged from 75% at Middlesboro High to 85% at Yellow Creek; these are context, not an explanation for results. The alternative school has 31 students, but its current school-level test figures are suppressed, so its achievement cannot be compared.