Summary:
Zip code 40422 has two middle schools serving grades 6–8: Boyle County Middle School and John W. Bate Middle School. Their 2025–2026 Kentucky test results show that school choice is associated with meaningfully different outcomes in several subjects. The clearest area-wide finding is that Boyle leads in nine of the 10 matched subject-and-grade results.
Boyle County Middle stands out overall: its average across the 10 results is 56%, compared with 42% at Bate, a 14-point gap. Boyle is above the state in every reported comparison, while Bate is below the state in several areas, including seventh-grade science and seventh- and eighth-grade math. The largest school-to-school differences are in seventh-grade science, where Boyle has 54% proficient and Bate 22%, and seventh-grade math, 56% versus 31%. Bate’s notable exception is eighth-grade reading: 46% proficient, two points above Boyle.
Recent results are mixed rather than uniformly rising or falling. Across the 10 matched results, Boyle’s average slipped about two points from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026, and Bate’s fell about one point; science moved in opposite directions, rising 17 points at Boyle and falling nine at Bate. SchoolDigger ranks Boyle 47th of 326 statewide, in the 86th percentile with four stars, and Bate 168th of 326, in the 48th percentile with two stars; both rankings have declined over the three years reported. The schools also differ in size and context: Boyle has 655 students and a 16.0 student–teacher ratio, while Bate has 358 students and a 13.2 ratio. In 2024–2025, free/reduced lunch eligible rates were 50% at Boyle and 67% at Bate. These figures describe two schools and should be considered alongside the particular subjects and grades that matter to families.
Thank you for your feedback!