Summary
Powell County High School is a public high school in Stanton, Kentucky, serving 580 students in grades 9–12. SchoolDigger ranks it 228th of 262 Kentucky high schools, at the 13th percentile with 1 star. The most pressing concern is grade 10 achievement: in 2025–26, 11% of students were proficient in math and 19% in reading, far below state rates.
In math and reading, the school trails the state but is close to its district: math proficiency was 11%, compared with 40% statewide and 10% in the Powell County district; reading was 19%, versus 49% statewide and 17% in the district. Nearby comprehensive high schools scored higher in both subjects: Montgomery County High School, Menifee County High School, and Estill County High School had math results of 33%, 35%, and 41%, and reading results of 55%, 44%, and 47%. Editing and mechanics is the closest subject to the state: 33%, equal to the district but 7 points below the state. Chronic absenteeism is high at 46%, compared with 37% in the district and 24% statewide. Graduation is a brighter spot: 93%, near the state’s 94% and above the district’s 91%.
Results have improved over the longer term in writing (from 10% to 29%), social studies (14% to 23%), and editing and mechanics (28% to 33%) since 2022–23, while math and reading have slipped; all five subjects with reported scores fell from the previous year. The school’s overall SchoolDigger percentile also dropped from 26 to 13 between 2024–25 and 2025–26. Its group-specific rankings, which reflect how well it serves those groups, fell for female students from the 50th to the 17th percentile and for Low Socio Economic Status Students from the 31st to the 7th. Context: the student-teacher ratio was 15.1 in 2024–25, and 62% of students were free/reduced lunch eligible that school year. The 2025–26 science result was suppressed, so no school score is available.
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