Schools in Zip Code 42642

Schools in ZIP code 42642 include four schools serving elementary through high school and 2,544 students, with enrollments from 401 at Salem Elementary School to 859 at Russell County High School. Across the latest reported test results, the schools averaged 4 points above state results in the same grade and subject, but that modest advantage hides sharp differences between schools and subjects. The most important finding for families is that the two elementary schools have especially different results in fifth-grade writing and social studies.

Russell Springs Elementary School stands out most against the state, averaging 11 points above state across ten results; Russell County Middle School was above state in all ten results and averaged 6 points higher. The elementary-school contrast is clearest in fifth-grade writing: Russell Springs scored 71%, compared with 23% at Salem and 35% statewide. The high school had the lowest average state-relative result, 2 points below state across six results, while Salem averaged 1 point below across ten. Results vary by subject, too: Salem led the elementary schools in math in all three tested grades, but was well below state in fifth-grade writing and social studies.

The schools’ combined advantage over state narrowed from 8 points per result in 2024–2025 to 4 points in 2025–2026. The average state-relative result fell most at Russell Springs, by 9 points, while the middle school’s average changed by less than 1 point. SchoolDigger’s statewide percentile ranks also moved in different directions: the middle school rose from 58 to 73, while the high school fell from 73 to 44; these are rankings, not test scores. As context, 2024–2025 free/reduced lunch eligible shares were 72% at Russell Springs and 71% at Salem, while their student-teacher ratios were 15.3 and 14.4, respectively. The high school reported a 96% graduation rate, above the state’s 94%, alongside 30% chronic absenteeism, above the state’s 24%.