Best Middle Schools in Zip Code 40503

ZIP code 40503 has two middle schools: Jessie M Clark Middle School, serving grades 6–8, and Scapa At Bluegrass, serving grades 4–8. Their 2025–26 Kentucky test results show both schools performing above state averages in the comparisons available, but with a substantial difference between them. The clearest finding for families is that Scapa led in every shared grade-and-subject result reported for both schools.

Scapa At Bluegrass stands out in those seven matched comparisons, scoring 14 to 39 percentage points higher than Jessie M Clark Middle School; the largest gaps were in grade 8 reading (92% versus 53%) and math (89% versus 59%). Clark still performed strongly relative to the state, exceeding it in all 10 of its reported 2025–26 subject-and-grade results, by 12 to 23 points. Scapa’s grades 4–5 results, which have no Clark comparison, also exceeded state rates by 16 to 40 points across the reported subjects. SchoolDigger ranked Scapa 2nd of 326 Kentucky middle schools in each of the three listed years; it ranked Clark 32nd of 326 in 2025–26.

Scores were mixed year over year rather than rising broadly. Clark’s average across its 10 comparable results slipped by about 1 point, while Scapa’s average across 13 comparable results was nearly unchanged; Scapa had notable declines in grade 7 math (down 15 points) and science (down 12), alongside gains in grade 8 reading (up 9). The combined advantage over state averages was essentially maintained. School context differs too: Scapa enrolls 300 students, compared with Clark’s 1,002, and its 2024–25 student–teacher ratio was 10.3 versus 16.5. In that same year, free/reduced lunch eligible students made up 14% at Scapa and 35% at Clark; these are contextual differences, not explanations for test results. Scapa’s 2025–26 grade 7 reading, grades 5 and 8 writing, and grade 8 editing and mechanics results were suppressed.