Jackson Purchase News

There were 383 third grade students enrolled in Marshall County schools in the 2022-23 school year, 12.3% more than the previous year, according to the Kentucky Department of Education.

Benton Elementary School welcomed most of the third grade students in the county, registering 97 students.

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

Statewide, Marshall County ranked 36th in enrollment numbers. It was also ranked 36th 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 3rd Grade Students Enrolled	% of Student Body	Total Enrollment
Benton Elementary School	97	17%	571
Central Elementary School	82	16%	511
Sharpe Elementary School	66	19.2%	344
Calvert City Elementary School	50	16.2%	308
South Marshall Elementary School	46	14.8%	311
Jonathan Elementary School	41	14.9%	276
Purchase Youth Village	1	1.2%	84