Summary:
ZIP code 40291 has three elementary schools in Jefferson County, all serving kindergarten through grade 5. Together, Fern Creek Elementary, Wheeler Elementary and Bates Elementary enroll 1,955 students. The most important difference is that Fern Creek scored lowest in all 10 reported subject-and-grade results for 2025–2026, while Bates and Wheeler had substantially higher overall averages.
Bates leads overall, with an average of 53% across its reported results, compared with 49% at Wheeler and 26% at Fern Creek. That puts Bates 27 points and Wheeler 23 points above Fern Creek. Bates led in seven individual comparisons, while Wheeler led in three—grade 4 math (63%), reading (64%) and science (54%). The schools’ overall averages were 53% at Bates and 49% at Wheeler, versus a matched state average of 44%; Fern Creek’s average was 26%, below the state in every comparison. SchoolDigger’s 2025–2026 rankings also place Bates highest (191st, 72nd percentile, 4 stars), followed by Wheeler (242nd, 65th percentile, 3 stars), with Fern Creek at 619th, the 10th percentile, and 0 stars.
Recent results improved most at Bates: its average rose from 48% in 2024–2025 to 53% in 2025–2026, while Fern Creek fell from 28% to 26% and Wheeler was nearly unchanged (49.4% to 49.2%). SchoolDigger’s longer ranking history shows Bates moving from the 71st to the 72nd percentile, Fern Creek from the 11th to the 10th, and Wheeler from the 72nd to the 65th between 2023–2024 and 2025–2026. Similar staffing figures do not explain the score differences: student-teacher ratios were 16.0 at Bates and Fern Creek and 15.9 at Wheeler. For 2024–2025, free/reduced lunch eligible shares were 48% at Bates, 45% at Wheeler and 64% at Fern Creek; these are context, not explanations of results. These comparisons describe the available school results but do not establish why outcomes differ.
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