Boyd County Middle School

Boyd County Middle School serves 618 students in grades 6–8 in the Ashland area of northeastern Kentucky. Its results vary considerably by grade and subject: grade 7 is generally stronger, while grade 6 reading and math lag state results. The clearest finding is a standout in 8th-grade writing, where 63% of students were proficient in 2025–2026.

Writing is a clear strength compared with the state, district, and nearby schools: the 63% proficiency rate was 15 percentage points above the state’s 48%, 1 point above the Boyd County district’s 62%, and about 15 points above the nearby-school average. Grade 6 is the main concern. Reading proficiency was 40%, versus 54% statewide and an average of about 49% at nearby schools; math was 32%, 10 points below the state and about 2 points below nearby schools’ average. Grade 7 results were better: math was 42% compared with 39% statewide, and reading was 51% compared with 50%. Comparisons use schools reporting the same grade; Raceland-Worthington Middle School serves grades 3–7 and has no grade 8 results.

Results have improved substantially from 2022–2023 in most subjects, although progress has not been steady every year: 8th-grade writing rose from 36% to 63% over that period, after reaching 66% in 2024–2025, while average reading and math proficiency across grades 6–8 increased by about 10 and 16 percentage points. SchoolDigger ranks the school 184th of 326 statewide, at the 44th percentile with 2 stars; that percentile matches Russell Middle School, while nearby schools range from the 22nd to the 71st percentile. The 2024–2025 student-teacher ratio was 14.7:1, the second-lowest among nearby schools, and 57% of students were free/reduced lunch eligible that year, the second-highest rate among nearby schools with the same measure. Chronic absenteeism improved to 24.2% in 2025–2026 from 32.9% in each of the previous two years, though it remained just above the state’s 23.5%.