Best High Schools in Kentucky (2025-26)
Every ranked high school in Kentucky, ordered by SchoolGrade. A grade rewards actual test performance against the projection for each school's student context, so a B in a high-poverty school can outrank an A- elsewhere on impact. Click a column heading to sort, or filter by school, city or district.
Kentucky rankings: High Schools · Middle Schools · Elementary Schools
Kentucky high schools ranked
How Kentucky's high schools compare
A: 57B: 53C: 56D: 49F: 9
49% of the 224 ranked high schools in Kentucky earn an A or B (57 A grades, 53 B, 56 C, 49 D, 9 F), against 50% of high schools nationwide. 172 schools meet or beat the proficiency projected from their student context (77% here, 74% nationally), and 97 exceed it. On average 38% of tested students meet the state bar against a projected 33% (national averages: 44% actual, 41% projected).
The biggest overperformers, by actual proficiency above projection: Leslie County High School (57% against 22%, A+), Hart County High School (54% against 25%, A+), Buckhorn School (52% against 25%, A+), Cloverport Independent School (50% against 24%, A), Fulton County High School (50% against 24%, A).
Districts with the most schools in the top quarter (the top 56): Jefferson County (3), Oldham County (3), Fayette County (3), Madison County (2).
Cities with the most ranked high schools: Louisville (17, 5 at A or B), Lexington (6, 3 at A or B), Bowling Green (5, 3 at A or B), Pikeville (3, 1 at A or B), Somerset (3, 3 at A or B).
The largest ranked high schools: Lafayette High School (2,432 students, A+, #16), Marion C Moore School (2,320 students, F, #218), Madison Central High School (2,226 students, A-, #54).
Of the top 25, 3 are magnet schools and 0 are charters. Selective and specialised schools tend to post high actual scores; the projection column is the fairer comparison for a neighborhood school.
High schools in Kentucky that are not ranked
175 graded high schools are listed here rather than ranked, each for the reason given. Every one has its own page with its full SchoolGrade report.
Special-purpose schools (29)
Alternative, special-education and vocational schools serve a different mission and a different student body, so they are graded but not ranked against regular schools.
- D- Accel Academy, Burlington
- F Bartlett Educational Center, Erlanger
- C Beacon Academy, Bowling Green
- F Calloway County Alternative Program, Murray
- B+ Carter G Woodson Academy, Lexington
- C- Carter Virtual Academy, Olive Hill
- C+ College View Campus, Elizabethtown
- B Corbin School Of Innovation, Corbin
- F Eagle Academy, Somerset
- F Emerson Academy, Owensboro
- F Estill County Success Academy, Irvine
- F Fayette County Learning Center, Lexington
- F Franklin Simpson High School West Campus, Franklin
- D- Home Of The Innocents School, Louisville
- F Johnson County Eagle Academy, Paintsville
- D+ Laurel County Day Treatment, London
- C- Mc Academy, Benton
- F Pathfinder School Of Innovation, Louisville
- D Patriot Academy, Scottsville
- D Phoenix Horizon Community, Georgetown
- A- Steam Academy, Lexington
- D+ Success Academy, Lexington
- C- The Academy, Russellville
- F The Central Academy, Henderson
- D- The Phoenix School Of Discovery, Louisville
- F The Providence School, Wilmore
- D- The Renaissance Center, Greenville
- D Union County Learning Academy, Morganfield
- D- Web Dubois Academy, Louisville
Fully online schools (3)
Statewide virtual schools draw students from everywhere, so a place ranking is not a fair comparison.
- B+ Bavel, Glasgow
- D- Christian County Public Schools Vla, Hopkinsville
- A+ Laurel County Virtual Academy, London
Not yet graded (143)
Our source data has no school-level proficiency results for these schools, so they carry no SchoolGrade yet.
- Ahrens Educational Resource Center, Louisville
- Alexandria Educational Center, Alexandria
- Anchor Academy, Danville
- Ascension Academy, Shelbyville
- Ashgrove Academy, Nicholasville
- Ashland Alternative School, Ashland
- Audrey Grevious Center, Lexington
- Barbourville Learning Center, Barbourville
- Bardstown Alternative School, Bardstown
- Barnabus Home High School, Annville
- Bellevue Transitional School, Richmond
- Binet School, Louisville
- Bluegrass Challenge Academy, Fort Knox
- Bluegrass Discovery Academy High, Morehead
- Bluegrass Learning Academy, Hopkinsville
- Bowling Green Learning Center, Bowling Green
- Boyd County Central School, Rush
- Boys And Girls Haven, Louisville
- Brandenburg High School, Brandenburg
- Breathitt County Day Treatment, Jackson
- Breathitt Regional School, Jackson
- Breckinridge Metropolitan High, Louisville
- Brooklawn, Louisville
- Bullitt Alternative Center, Shepherdsville
- Butler County Learning Center, Morgantown
- Calloway County Day Treatment, Murray
- Campbellsville Eagle Academy, Campbellsville
- Choices Educational Center, Paducah
- Christian County Day Treatment, Hopkinsville
- Christian County Homehospital, Hopkinsville
- Churchill Park School, Louisville
- College Street Campus, Glasgow
- Colonel Academy, Williamsburg
- Commander Academy, Springfield
- Covington Adult High School, Covington
- Cumberland Hall School, Hopkinsville
- Dessie Scott School, Pine Ridge
- Family Care Center, Lexington
- Foothills Academy, Albany
- Frenchburg Success Academy, Frenchburg
- Future Forward Education And Career Center, Lexington
- Gateway Academy High School, Mayfield
- Geo International High School, Bowling Green
- Georgia Chaffee Teenage Parent Program, Fairdale
- Glen Dale Center, Elizabethtown
- Grayson Co Alternative Education, Leitchfield
- Guardian Angel, Fort Mitchell
- Hancock County Alternative Program, Lewisport
- Happy Valley Learning Center, Glasgow
- Harbor Academy And Virtual School, Cadiz
- Hardin County Day Treatment Center, Elizabethtown
- Harrison County Learning Center, Cynthiana
- Heritage Park High School, Owensboro
- High School Homebound, Corbin
- Hillview Academy, Taylorsville
- Home Instruction HS, Petersburg
- Home Of The Innocents Discovery, Louisville
- Homebound Secondary, Lexington
- Homehospital, Louisville
- Hopkins County Day Treatment, Madisonville
- Hopkins County Schools Academy, Madisonville
- Horizons High School, Elkton
- Hugh C Spalding Academy, Lebanon
- Jackson Co Schools Learning Center, Mc Kee
- James R Allen High School, Brandenburg
- Jefferson Regional Juvenile Detention Ce, Louisville
- Kentucky School For The Blind, Louisville
- Kentucky School For The Deaf, Danville
- Knox County Day Treatment, Barbourville
- Knox County Learning Academy, Barbourville
- Knox Inspire Academy, Barbourville
- Lake Cumberland Youth Development Center, Monticello
- Lakeview Academy, Campbellsville
- Learning Academy, Hazard
- Letcher County Alternative Education Ctr, Whitesburg
- Liberty High, Louisville
- Lighthouse Academy, Bowling Green
- Lincoln Trail Behavioral Health Systems, Radcliff
- Louisville Day, Louisville
- Madison County Day Treatment, Richmond
- Martin L King Acad For Excellence Alt, Lexington
- Mary Jo And William Macdonald Maryhurst, Louisville
- Mary Ryan Academy, Louisville
- Mayfield Youth Development Center, Mayfield
- Mccracken Open Campus School, West Paducah
- Mcdaniel Learning Center, London
- Mclean County Alternative Center, Calhoun
- Mercer Central, Harrodsburg
- Mercer County Day Treatment, Harrodsburg
- Middlesboro Alternative School, Middlesboro
- Middlesboro Group Home School, Middlesboro
- Minor Daniels Academy, Louisville
- Morehead Youth Development Center, Morehead
- Newcomer Academy, Louisville
- Newport Regional School, Newport
- Newport School Of Innovation, Newport
- Northern Ky Youth Dev Center, Crittenden
- Northpoint Academy, Pikeville
- Ohio County Alternative Learning Program, Hartford
- Ohio County Day Treatment, Hartford
- Opportunity Middle College, Lexington
- Otter Creek Academy, Monticello
- Owensboro Day Treatment, Owensboro
- Panther Transition Academy, Frankfort
- Pathway Academy High School, Marion
- Peace Academy, Louisville
- Phoenix Academy, Winchester
- Pike County Virtual Academy, Pikeville
- Powell County Academy, Stanton
- Purchase Youth Village, Benton
- Raceland-worthington Schools Campus A, Ashland
- Raceland-worthington Schools Campus B, Ashland
- Ramey-estep High School, Rush
- Renaissance Learning Center, Martin
- Ridge Hospital Alt. High School, Lexington
- Rise Academy, Florence
- Rivendell High School, Bowling Green
- Rockcastle Academy For Academic Achievement, Mount Vernon
- Safe Harbor Academy, Versailles
- Second Chance Academy, Owingsville
- Success Academy, Glasgow
- Success Academy, Pine Ridge
- Sunrise Academy, Danville
- The Academy, Frankfort
- The Academy At Horizons, Bardstown
- The Brook Kmi, Louisville
- The Center For Academic Improvement, Owensboro
- The Stables, Lexington
- The Sterling School, Mount Sterling
- Transformational Learning Center, Covington
- U Of L Pact Program, Louisville
- Valley High School, Owensboro
- Valley View Education Center, Elizabethtown
- Virtual Academy, Owensboro
- Waller Williams Environmental, Louisville
- Warren County Day Treatment, Bowling Green
- Warren Regional Juvenile Detention Ctr, Bowling Green
- Wayne County Learning Academy, Monticello
- Western High, Louisville
- Whitley County Alternative School, Williamsburg
- William Cofield High School, Frankfort
- Williamstown SR High, Williamstown
- Woodsbend Youth Development Center, West Liberty
About this ranking
- Scope: every public high school in Kentucky.
- Order: SchoolGrade, then actual proficiency, then name; schools with the same grade and score share a rank.
- Ranked: regular public schools that NCES lists as open, not fully online, with at least 30 students. Others are listed with the reason.
- Tags: Magnet and Charter from the NCES school directory; K-12 marks schools serving every grade that are ranked with the high schools.
- Grades are the 2025-26 SchoolGrade model. How SchoolGrade works
Questions about high schools in Kentucky
What is the best high school in Kentucky?
Dupont Manual High in Louisville ranks first among the 224 ranked high schools in Kentucky with a SchoolGrade of A+, 77% of tested students meeting the state bar against a projected 73%.
How are high schools in Kentucky ranked?
By SchoolGrade, the 2025-26 model that scores each school's actual test proficiency against the level projected for its student context, then by actual proficiency to break ties. Regular public schools that are open, not fully online and have at least 30 students are ranked; the rest are listed below the table with the reason.
How many high schools does Kentucky have?
SchoolGrade grades 399 public high schools in Kentucky; 224 are ranked here and 175 are listed as not ranked.