North Kentucky News

There were 194 first grade students enrolled in Pendleton County schools in the 2022-23 school year, 16.9% more than the previous year, according to the Kentucky Department of Education.

Southern Elementary School welcomed most of the first grade students in the county, registering 100 students.

Within Pendleton County schools, the highest student population was found in eighth grade, with the smallest class sizes seen in preschool.

Statewide, Pendleton County ranked 74th in enrollment numbers. It was also ranked 74th the year before.

Despite escaping some of the pandemic's educational disruptions, Kentucky's achievement gaps have remained an issue since 2019. In the eighth-grade reading assessments, for example, Hispanic students scored eight points lower than their white peers, and the gap reached 15 points in math. Black students fared even worse, falling more than 20 points behind and facing a failure rate nearly double that of their white counterparts.

School	# of 1st Grade Students Enrolled	% of Student Body	Total Enrollment
Southern Elementary School	100	16.1%	620
Northern Elementary School	94	17.7%	531