McCreary County

The five schools in McCreary County serve elementary, middle and high school grades and enroll 2,668 students altogether. Pine Knot Primary has no test-score results in the supplied data. The clearest takeaway is that results vary sharply by school rather than showing one countywide pattern.

Whitley City Elementary stands out at the top: it scored above the state in nine of its 10 reported grade-and-subject results and matched or exceeded it in the other, averaging 13 points above the state. Its largest advantages were 32 points in grade 4 reading and grade 5 editing and mechanics. McCreary County Middle School is at the other end, below the state in all 10 results and averaging 14 points below. McCreary Central High School was below the state in all six results, averaging 6 points below. Pine Knot Intermediate had a mixed profile: it led Whitley City in grade 3 reading and math, but trailed it in all eight shared grade 4–5 results.

Recent trends also differ. From 2024–2025 to 2025–2026, the average gap from the state shifted 3 points downward across the schools with scores, largely because Pine Knot Intermediate fell from 12 points above the state to 2 points above; Whitley City rose from 12 to 13 points above, while the middle school stayed about 14 points below. SchoolDigger ranks rose for Whitley City, from the 64th to the 77th percentile, and fell for Pine Knot Intermediate, from the 79th to the 55th; Whitley City is currently rated four stars, while the other schools with current ranks are at the 55th percentile or lower. Both elementary schools report similar free/reduced lunch eligible shares for 2024–2025—85% at Whitley City and 86% at Pine Knot Intermediate—alongside student-teacher ratios of 15.1 and 13.0. Chronic absenteeism remains a concern: it was 29% at Whitley City and 40% at the high school, though the high school’s graduation rate was 97%, above the state’s 94%.