Middle school (grades 6-8) · Lexington, KY

Tates Creek Middle School

Federal NCES profile for Tates Creek Middle School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 48/100.

2024-25 NCES dataMiddle school (grades 6-8)NCES 210186000382
0/100100/10048/100
👥 S:T ratio
46
🌟 Gifted program
70
🎓 Counselors
49
📋 Attendance
27
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →

The verdict

Tates Creek Middle School earns 48/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 70% of Kentucky schools. It is also more racially and ethnically mixed than most Kentucky schools.

#2 of 11
middle schools in Lexington · Resource Index
48
Resource Index · Typical
13.5:1
small classes for Kentucky
56.8%
free-lunch eligible

Tates Creek Middle School has class sizes smaller than 70% of Kentucky schools. Computed live against every Kentucky school reporting to NCES.

By Resource Investment Index, Tates Creek Middle School ranks #2 of 11 middle schools in Lexington, KY.

School address

Enrollment

767

Kentucky · 2024-25 NCES data

Teachers (FTE)

57.0

Federal CCD staff survey

Students per teacher

13.5:1

vs 15.2:1 Kentucky avg

-11% vs state

Free-lunch eligible

56.8%

vs 59.2% Kentucky avg

-4% vs state

Student-teacher ratio in context

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

At or below 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 Middle School

Tates Creek Middle School is a higher-need, large middle school in Lexington, Kentucky, enrolling 767 students.

Class sizes run a bit leaner than typical: 13.5:1 puts it in the smaller third of Kentucky schools by student-teacher ratio.

Its free-meal eligibility rate of 56.8% lands close to the Kentucky typical range, neither a high- nor low-need campus by this measure.

Enrollment of 767 puts it in the larger third of Kentucky schools by headcount.

Its Resource Investment Index lands in the upper third of 1,389 scored Kentucky schools.

Against 389 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks in the upper tier at #52.

Its student body is led by White (41%) and African American (28%), more mixed than most schools in the state (diversity index 72/100).

Counselor coverage runs a bit thin, about 256 students per counselor, somewhat past the ASCA-recommended 250:1 benchmark.

Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 29.1% 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: 256 in- and out-of-school suspensions were reported for 767 students in the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection.

Among Lexington's middle schools, it stands alongside Edythe Jones Hayes Middle School (1,125 students): Tates Creek Middle School is smaller than that campus by headcount and runs leaner classes (13.5:1 vs 15.2:1).

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

Tates Creek Middle 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 13.5:1 ▼ 11% 15.2:1 15.7:1
Free-lunch eligible 56.8% ▼ 4% 59.2% 51.7%
Enrollment 767 top 13% - -

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

13.5:1
Leaner classes than 62% of US schools, a middle-of-the-pack class size.
767
Bigger than 84% of US schools by enrollment, a large campus nationally.

Equity indicators (what these measure)

Economic need
56.8%
free-lunch eligible - 4% 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
13.5:1
students per teacher - 11% below state mean
Top 30% in Kentucky - lower ratio than 70% of state schools
Close to the 15:1 benchmark most often cited for individualized attention.
Engagement
29.1%
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
Counselors3.0 FTE
Per 256 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
149
in-school suspensions + 107 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 19.4 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 33.4 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 40.8%
African American 27.9%
Hispanic or Latino 16.7%
Two or More 8.3%
Asian 6.3%

Largest group: White at 40.8% of enrollment.

Student-body diversity index 71.7/100

Simpson diversity index - at 71.7, Tates Creek Middle School is more mixed than the Kentucky school average of 34.5.

Programs

Gifted & talented Yes

Funding & spending

District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Fayette County, which includes Tates Creek Middle 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 Middle School Compares to District-Mates

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

Comparisons are relative to Tates Creek Middle 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 middle schools in Lexington

6 comparable middle schools (grades 6-8) serving the same city.

Similar middle 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 Middle 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 Middle School

How many students attend Tates Creek Middle School?

Tates Creek Middle School has 767 students enrolled. It is a middle school in Lexington, KY.

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

The student-teacher ratio at Tates Creek Middle School is 13.5:1, which is 11% lower than the Kentucky average of 15.2:1 and 14% lower than the national average of 15.7:1. Lower ratios generally mean more individual attention per student.

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

56.8% of students at Tates Creek Middle School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Kentucky average of 59.2%.

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

The largest demographic group at Tates Creek Middle School is White at 40.8% of enrollment, in Lexington, KY. Its student body is more racially and ethnically mixed than most US schools, with a diversity index of 71.7/100.

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

Tates Creek Middle School has a Resource Investment Index of 48/100 (typical reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, counselor availability, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).

How does Tates Creek Middle School rank among middle schools in Lexington?

By Resource Investment Index, Tates Creek Middle School ranks #2 of 11 middle 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 middle schools in Lexington on the city page.

Is Tates Creek Middle School a good school?

Tates Creek Middle School earns 48/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 70% of Kentucky schools. It is also more racially and ethnically mixed than most Kentucky schools. 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 Middle 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.

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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.