Owen County

Owen County has three schools serving preschool through grade 12: Owen County Elementary/Primary School (674 students), Maurice Bowling Middle School (475), and Owen County High School (531). In 2025–2026, 22 of 24 reported school results were below the matching state result, with gaps ranging from 24 points below to 4 points above. The main takeaway is that most results trailed the state, but performance varied considerably by school, grade, and subject.

Elementary/Primary stands out for its SchoolDigger ranking and two above-state results: it ranked at the 30th percentile statewide and had fourth-grade reading at 54% proficient versus 50% statewide, and science at 42% versus 40%. High School ranked at the 27th percentile, while Maurice Bowling ranked at the 12th and had the largest average state gap: 27% proficient versus a matching state average of 44%, or 17 points lower. Its seventh-grade reading was 26% versus 50%, and fifth-grade math was 20% versus 43%. Across reported results, the average state gap was 9 points at Elementary/Primary and 8 at High School. Because the schools serve different grades, these averages are descriptive, not direct same-grade comparisons.

Matched results moved closer to state levels overall by about 1 point from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026, but the improvement came from the middle school: its average gap narrowed by 3 points, while gaps widened by about 1 point at each of the other schools. SchoolDigger rankings rose over the year at all three schools: Elementary/Primary from the 27th to 30th percentile, High School from the 25th to 27th, and Maurice Bowling from the 7th to 12th. High School also had a 96% graduation rate in 2025–2026, 2 points above the state, but chronic absenteeism was 33%, compared with 24% statewide. For context, 2024–2025 student-teacher ratios were 14.3 at Elementary/Primary, 14.8 at Maurice Bowling, and 17.7 at High School; free/reduced lunch eligible shares were 62%, 56%, and 56%, respectively.