Summary:
ZIP code 40291 has four Jefferson County public schools: three elementary schools serving grades K–5 and one high school serving grades 9–12. In 2025–2026, elementary proficiency averages ranged from 24% at Fern Creek Elementary to 53% at Bates Elementary; Wheeler Elementary averaged 49%, compared with 44% for the matched state results. The most important finding is that elementary performance varies sharply within the ZIP code: Bates’s average is 28 percentage points higher than Fern Creek Elementary’s.
Bates is the broadest elementary standout, leading in five of six subject averages; its grade 5 reading result was 68% proficient, 17 points above the state’s 51%. Wheeler stands out in grade 4, with 63% in math versus 43% statewide, 64% in reading versus 50%, and 54% in science versus 40%. Fern Creek Elementary was below the state in all six subject averages, with its largest shortfall—25 points—in grade 5 editing and mechanics. Fern Creek High was also below the state in all six reported subjects, by 13 to 20 points.
Recent trends further separate the schools: from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026, Bates’s elementary average rose 5 points, Fern Creek Elementary’s fell 4, and Wheeler’s was nearly unchanged. Fern Creek High’s six-subject average fell 6 points, widening its gap to the state from 13 to 19 points. SchoolDigger ranks Bates at the 72nd percentile (4 stars), Wheeler at the 65th (3 stars), Fern Creek Elementary at the 10th (0 stars), and Fern Creek High at the 11th (1 star). Elementary student-teacher ratios are similar, 15.9 to 16.0. For 2024–2025, free/reduced lunch eligible figures were 48% at Bates, 45% at Wheeler, and 64% at Fern Creek Elementary; these are context, not explanations for score differences. Fern Creek High also had 47% chronic absenteeism, versus 24% statewide and 32% in Jefferson County, while its graduation rate was 92%, close to the state’s 94%.
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