Elementary Schools in Nicholas County

Nicholas County has one elementary school, Nicholas County Elementary School, serving prekindergarten through grade 6 and enrolling 645 students. In 2025–26, its results were below Kentucky’s in all 12 reported subject-and-grade comparisons, with gaps ranging from 8 to 24 percentage points.

There is no top or bottom school to compare within the county because this is the only school listed. Reading is its stronger subject relative to the state: the four-grade average was about 39%, compared with 51% statewide, a 13-point gap; mathematics averaged 25% versus 43%, an 18-point gap. The smallest shortfall among all reported results was grade 3 mathematics, at 35% versus 43%. The largest was grade 5 writing, at 11% versus 35%; grade 4 mathematics was also far below the state, at 20% versus 43%. Even the comparatively stronger reading results remained below the state at every tested grade.

Results varied considerably by grade over time: reading improved by 9 points in grade 3, 5 in grade 4, and 15 in grade 5 from 2024–25 to 2025–26, but fell 8 points in grade 6. Mathematics changed by 1 point in grade 3, fell 4 in grade 4, stayed level in grade 5, and dropped 17 in grade 6. Across 11 comparable results, the school’s average remained about 30% in both years while the state average rose from about 45% to 46%. SchoolDigger ranked the school 607th of 684 schools (11th percentile, one star) in 2025–26, compared with 581st of 685 (15th percentile, one star) in 2024–25. Context figures include a student–teacher ratio of 17.6 in 2024–25 and 66% free/reduced lunch eligible that school year; chronic absenteeism was 21.3% in 2025–26, below the Nicholas County district’s 22.6% and the state’s 23.5%.