High school (grades 9-12) · Lexington, KY

Tates Creek High School

Federal NCES profile for Tates Creek High School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 24/100.

2024-25 NCES dataHigh school (grades 9-12)NCES 210186000383
0/100100/10024/100
👥 S:T ratio
32
📚 AP courses
10
🌟 Gifted program
30
🎓 Counselors
43
📋 Attendance
8
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →

The verdict

Tates Creek High School earns 24/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes larger than 77% of Kentucky schools. It is also one of the largest schools in Kentucky.

#7 of 9
high schools in Lexington · Resource Index
24
Resource Index · Lower
17.1:1
large classes for Kentucky
50.6%
free-lunch eligible

Tates Creek High School has class sizes larger than 77% of Kentucky schools. Computed live against every Kentucky school reporting to NCES.

By Resource Investment Index, Tates Creek High School ranks #7 of 9 high schools in Lexington, KY.

School address

Enrollment

1,723

Kentucky · 2024-25 NCES data

Teachers (FTE)

101.0

Federal CCD staff survey

Students per teacher

17.1:1

vs 15.2:1 Kentucky avg

+13% vs state

Free-lunch eligible

50.6%

vs 59.2% Kentucky avg

-15% vs state

Student-teacher ratio in context

How Tates Creek High School compares with Kentucky and U.S. medians

Slightly above state median

Source: NCES Common Core of Data As of 2024-25 federal staff survey Total enrollment ÷ full-time-equivalent classroom teachers

What stands out at Tates Creek High School

Tates Creek High School is a higher-need, large high school in Lexington, Kentucky, enrolling 1,723 students.

Class loads run somewhat heavier than typical: 17.1:1 puts it in the larger third of Kentucky schools by student-teacher ratio.

Economic need runs somewhat below the state's typical profile, with 50.6% of students eligible for free meals.

By headcount it is one of the larger campuses in Kentucky, bigger than 99% of state schools at 1,723 students.

Its Resource Investment Index trails 96% of the 1,389 Kentucky schools with a score on record, one of the lower results on this measure.

Among 55 similarly sized, similarly resourced-need Kentucky schools statewide, it ranks #46, in the lower tier once campus size and economic need are matched.

Its student body is led by White (40%) and African American (29%), more mixed than most schools in the state (diversity index 71/100).

On the academic-pipeline side it reports 2 Advanced Placement courses.

Counselor coverage runs a bit thin, about 287 students per counselor, somewhat past the ASCA-recommended 250:1 benchmark.

Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 36.9% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).

The surrounding Fayette County spends $15,849 per pupil, 20% above the Kentucky average, a better-resourced district than most.

Discipline events run high: 394 in- and out-of-school suspensions were reported for 1,723 students in the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection.

Among Lexington's high schools, it stands alongside Lafayette High School (2,370 students): Tates Creek High School is smaller than that campus by headcount and runs leaner classes (17.1:1 vs 18.4:1).

Fayette County also operates Lafayette High School (2,370 students) and Bryan Station High School (2,030 students) alongside Tates Creek High School.

Sourced from NCES CCD, CRDC, and F-33 (federal records, not a quality verdict). How we source and compute this.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25

How Tates Creek High School compares

Tates Creek High School on the metrics families compare, against Kentucky and U.S. means.

Metric This school vs Kentucky Kentucky avg U.S. avg
Students per teacher 17.1:1 ▲ 13% 15.2:1 15.7:1
Free-lunch eligible 50.6% ▼ 15% 59.2% 51.7%
Enrollment 1,723 top 1% - -

Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25

17.1:1
Leaner classes than 30% of US schools, heavier class loads than most.
1,723
Bigger than 97% of US schools by enrollment, a large campus nationally.

Equity indicators (what these measure)

Economic need
50.6%
free-lunch eligible - 15% below the Kentucky average of 59.2%
Above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold; federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
Staffing depth
17.1:1
students per teacher - 13% above state mean
Top 77% in Kentucky - lower ratio than 23% of state schools
Between 16:1 and 20:1, squarely in the typical U.S. public-school staffing range.
Engagement
36.9%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
At or above 20%, the commonly used threshold for "high" chronic absenteeism, signaling significant barriers to regular attendance.
Funding equity
$15,849
per pupil, district-wide - above Kentucky avg of $13,211
Close to the U.S. public-school average per-pupil spend.
Support staff
Counselors6.0 FTE
Per 287 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
246
in-school suspensions + 148 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 14.3 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 22.9 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.

Overview

  • Common Core of Data (June 2026): enrollment, staffing, and the student-teacher ratio above.
  • Civil Rights Data Collection: discipline counts and program access (AP, gifted, special education).
  • F-33 School District Finance Survey: the district-wide per-pupil spending figures below.

Three separate federal collections, each on its own reporting cadence - which is why this school's numbers line up on a consistent basis against every other school and state on this site, rather than mixing figures pulled from different survey years.

Student demographics

White 40.4%
African American 29.4%
Hispanic or Latino 18.3%
Two or More 8.1%
Asian 3.7%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.1%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 0.1%

Largest group: White at 40.4% of enrollment.

Student-body diversity index 70.9/100

Simpson diversity index - at 70.9, Tates Creek High School is more mixed than the Kentucky school average of 34.5.

Programs

AP courses offered 2

Funding & spending

District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Fayette County, which includes Tates Creek High School.

$15,849
Per student
+20%
vs Kentucky
Avg $13,211
-4%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 49.8%
State 35.5%
Federal 14.7%

Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey District-level finance · FY 2021-22 Per-pupil expenditure reflects the district-wide average. Individual school budgets are not reported at the federal level.

How Tates Creek High School Compares to District-Mates

School Enrollment Economic Profile Student-Teacher Ratio
Lafayette High School Larger Lower economic need Similar S:T ratio
Bryan Station High School Similar size Similar economic need Higher S:T ratio
Henry Clay High School Similar size Similar economic need Similar S:T ratio
Paul Laurence Dunbar High School Similar size Similar economic need Similar S:T ratio
Frederick Douglass High School Similar size Similar economic need Higher S:T ratio

Comparisons are relative to Tates Creek High School's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.

Other Schools in This District

Fayette County · 5 sibling schools

View district profile

Similar high schools in Lexington

6 comparable high schools (grades 9-12) serving the same city.

Similar high schools statewide

Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of Kentucky, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.

Next steps

Verify locally before acting on Tates Creek High School's federal record.

Federal record (CCD 2024-25, CRDC 2021-22) - PlainSchools assigns no subjective rating; the composite quality score is a transparent, reproducible index computed from this cited federal data.

Frequently asked questions about Tates Creek High School

How many students attend Tates Creek High School?

Tates Creek High School has 1,723 students enrolled. It is a high school in Lexington, KY.

What is the student-teacher ratio at Tates Creek High School?

The student-teacher ratio at Tates Creek High School is 17.1:1, which is 13% higher than the Kentucky average of 15.2:1 and 9% higher than the national average of 15.7:1.

What percentage of students receive free lunch at Tates Creek High School?

50.6% of students at Tates Creek High School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Kentucky average of 59.2%.

What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Tates Creek High School?

The largest demographic group at Tates Creek High School is White at 40.4% of enrollment, in Lexington, KY. Its student body is more racially and ethnically mixed than most US schools, with a diversity index of 70.9/100.

What is the Resource Investment Index for Tates Creek High School?

Tates Creek High School has a Resource Investment Index of 24/100 (lower reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 5 factors: student-teacher ratio, AP course offerings, counselor availability, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).

How does Tates Creek High School rank among high schools in Lexington?

By Resource Investment Index, Tates Creek High School ranks #7 of 9 high schools in Lexington, KY. This compares federal resource and staffing data among local peers; it is not a test-score or academic ranking. See all high schools in Lexington on the city page.

Is Tates Creek High School a good school?

Tates Creek High School earns 24/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes larger than 77% of Kentucky schools. It is also one of the largest schools in Kentucky. This is a resource snapshot, not an academic rating; see the Resource Investment Index question above for what the number does and doesn't measure.

What other schools are in Fayette County?

Besides Tates Creek High School, Fayette County also operates Lafayette High School (2,370 students), Bryan Station High School (2,030 students), and Henry Clay High School (1,939 students). See the Fayette County district page for the complete list.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) CCD + Public School Universe (2024-25), CRDC (2021-22), F-33 District Finance Survey (FY 2021-22) · 2024-25 Data as of the 2024-25 school year. Coverage from U.S. Department of Education NCES Common Core of Data. Varies by entity type; administrative districts and certain charter networks may report only a subset of fields.

All federal data sources used on this page

Full source list and how we compute each figure: methodology page.

View saved

Every figure on PlainSchools is rendered directly from the source NCES, CRDC and F-33 federal records, no number is typed in by an editor. Each school's figures reflect its most recent NCES/CRDC submission on file. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of June 2026.