Best Elementary Schools in Zip Code 40962

Five elementary schools in ZIP code 40962, in Clay County, serve through grade 6; four start in pre-K, while Paces Creek Elementary starts in kindergarten. Across reported 2025–26 tests, the schools’ average math scores were 69% compared with 43% statewide, and average reading scores were 73% compared with 51% statewide. Every reported result was above the matching state score, though school results differed substantially.

Paces Creek stands out in current math, leading all five schools in all four tested grades; its grade 5 score was 95%, compared with 50% at Hacker Elementary School. Burning Springs Elementary led grade 3 math at 89%, while Goose Rock Elementary scored 44%, a 45-point spread. In reading, Manchester Elementary School led grade 6 with 93%; Hacker had the lowest reported score, 62%. SchoolDigger ranked Burning Springs 1st and Paces Creek 3rd of 684 schools. Hacker ranked 131st, and it had the lowest reported math result in every grade, though its writing score was 74%.

Paces Creek also had the strongest recent improvement: its average math result across grades 3–6 rose from 55% in 2024–25 to 88% in 2025–26, a 33-point increase, while its average reading result rose 19 points. Its SchoolDigger rank moved from 181st of 685 to 3rd of 684. Other strengths may guide school choice: Manchester led grade 5 editing and mechanics at 95%, and Burning Springs led grade 5 reading and social studies. Reported 2024–25 free/reduced lunch eligible figures ranged from 71% at Hacker to 87% at Paces Creek; student-teacher ratios ranged from 11.4 at Goose Rock to 14 at Manchester. Chronic absenteeism averaged 40%, above the state’s 24%, across all five schools. Results are school-level measures, not evidence of individual students’ progress.