Schools in Zip Code 40361

Zip code 40361 has seven schools serving 3,024 students from elementary through high school in the Bourbon County and Paris Independent districts. In 2025–26, the schools’ matched-grade averages trailed state averages in every tested subject: reading was 34% versus 46%, math 24% versus 39%, science 20% versus 32%, writing 27% versus 42%, social studies 25% versus 38%, and editing and mechanics 36% versus 44%. The most important area-wide finding is that no subject average reached its state benchmark, with the largest gaps in writing and math, each about 15 percentage points.

Bourbon Central Elementary was the strongest all-around elementary performer: it led local reading in grades 3–5, and its fourth-grade math score of 39% was 13 points above Cane Ridge Elementary, though still below the state’s 43%. Cane Ridge had the area’s highest single-grade result, 55% in fifth-grade editing and mechanics, but only 10% in fifth-grade writing. Paris Elementary was generally at the low end in elementary reading, yet its fifth-grade math score of 31% topped the other two schools. Bourbon County Middle led Paris Middle in reading across grades 6–8 and in math in grades 6–7; Paris Middle narrowly led eighth-grade math, 21% to 20%. At high school, Bourbon County High led in five of six tested subjects, while Paris High led in math and graduation: 32% versus 28% in math and 99% versus 95% graduation.

Overall distance from state results changed little across matched results over the two years, but individual subjects and grades moved in different directions: for example, Cane Ridge fifth-grade editing and mechanics rose 28 points while writing fell 13, and Paris Middle seventh-grade math fell 26 points. SchoolDigger gives every school one star except Paris Elementary and Paris Middle, which have zero; its statewide percentile ranking rose six points from 2023–24 to 2025–26 at Bourbon County Middle and Bourbon Central, but fell 13 at Cane Ridge. Both high schools also had high chronic absenteeism in 2025–26: 36% at Bourbon County High and 39% at Paris High, compared with 24% statewide. As context, all schools reported free/reduced lunch eligibility for 2024–25; rates ranged from 56% at Cane Ridge to 79% at Paris High, and student-teacher ratios across the schools ranged from 14.3 to 18.2.