Summary:
ZIP code 40965 has one middle school, Middlesboro Middle School, serving grades 5–8 and enrolling 284 students in 2024–2025 in the Middlesboro Independent district. Results vary substantially by grade and subject: sixth-grade reading is a bright spot, while fifth-grade math and writing are notable challenges. Across the 15 reported subject-grade results, the school’s average rose from 34% in 2024–2025 to 35% in 2025–2026, while the state’s average moved from 43% to 42%. The clearest overall finding is that results remain below Kentucky’s overall, though the gap narrowed from about 9 percentage points to about 7.
Sixth-grade reading and seventh-grade science stand out against state results: reading was 61%, 7 points above Kentucky’s 54%, and science was 32%, 4 points above the state’s 28%; sixth-grade math matched the state at 42%. The largest shortfalls were in fifth-grade math, at 20% versus 43% statewide, and fifth-grade writing, at 15% versus 35%. Looking across grades, reading was the strongest multi-grade profile, averaging 44% compared with about 49% statewide, a 5-point gap. Math averaged 31% versus about 41%, and writing averaged 31% versus about 42%, gaps of 10 and 11 points.
Progress has been mixed by grade even as several subject gaps narrowed. Reading rose 12 points in grade 5 and 16 in grade 6, but fell 11 points in grade 7 and 8 in grade 8; editing and mechanics rose 12 points in grade 5 but dropped 18 in grade 8. SchoolDigger gives the school 2 stars and ranks it 197th of 326 Kentucky middle schools, in the 40th percentile; its reported percentile declined from 46th in 2023–2024 to 41st in 2024–2025. The student-teacher ratio was 11 in 2024–2025, when 80% of students were free/reduced lunch eligible. In 2025–2026, chronic absenteeism was 35%, about 12 points above the state, while the dropout rate was 0%, compared with 1% statewide.
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