Ballard County School District

About The Ballard County School District

 

Welcome to Ballard County Schools, the home of Bomber Pride! Our hometown schools offer academic excellence embedded in a unique culture. We are one of KDE’s Districts of Distinction, where our small-school atmosphere offers big-time opportunities.

We have one school at each level: Ballard County Preschool-Head Start, Ballard County Elementary, Ballard County Middle, and Ballard Memorial High schools. With an average of about 100 students per grade level, every teacher will know your child, providing individualized instruction tailored to specific needs. As a bonus, your child will develop relationships with teachers and classmates that will last a lifetime.

Our college and career readiness rates are some of the best in the state. Employers and college counselors tell us that our students come to them not only with solid academic skills, but also with old-school values like respect, manners, and a work ethic second to none.

Your family can enjoy the best of rural life with big-city amenities – a friendly, welcoming community, with county-wide fiber internet service, and plenty of places to take advantage of the great outdoors. We are the only school district in Ballard County, and enjoy overwhelming support from our community.

Below you will find contact information for our school system:

BCPS/Special Education: Terri Gentry – terri.gentry@ballard.kyschools.us, ext. 2101

BCES: Chris Sheffer – chris.sheffer@ballard.kyschools.us, ext. 2201

BCMS: Amber Parker – amber.parker@ballard.kyschools.us, ext. 2301

BMHS: Tim Adams – tim.adams@ballard.kyschools.us, ext. 2501

Superintendent Dr. Casey Allen – casey.allen@ballard.kyschools.us, ext. 2001

Director of Pupil Personnel Leslee Davis – leslee.davis@ballard.kyschools.us, ext. 2014 

Ballard County Pre-school

  • 119 students, ages 3 and 4; eligibility is needs or tuition-based.
  • 128-day schedule, with morning and afternoon sessions Monday-Thursday, August-May
  • 5-STAR rating, based on the state’s STARS for Kids system
  • Full collaboration with regional Head Start services
  • Wrap-around hours for in-house daycare
  • All teachers have IECE certifications curriculum follows Teaching Strategies Gold curriculum

Ballard County Elementary School

  • 533 students, K-5
  • 21st Century: Before- and after-school remedial and enrichment services, Monday-Thursday, September-April
  • Leader in Me: First year in the Stephen Covey ‘Seven Habits’ program
  • Career Week visits to district career and technical center, robotics classes
  • Cultural field trips to regional performance venues, guest theater teacher; music and art classes for all students
  • Activities/sports: Academic Team; Boy and Girl Scouts; chorus; 4-H Clubs; student council; annual science fair, speech festival, talent show, career day; and Little League basketball, football, cheerleading and soccer.

 

 

Ballard County Middle School

  • 225 students, grades 6-8
  • 21st Century: Before- and after-school remedial and enrichment services, Monday-Thursday, September-April
  • Leader in Me: 5 years in the Stephen Covey ‘Seven Habits’ program; teaching the habits and leading by example; helping students find their strengths, allowing them to lead, ensuring success; also involved with the regional Young Leaders group at Murray State University.
  • Students in grades 6 and 8 can take classes in the district career and technical center, including business, family and consumer science, and 3-D printing.
  • Activities/clubs/sports: Academic Team, regional Science Bowl, choir, band, art; Office, Lighthouse, rewards/incentives, recycling; Sewing, Big Brother/Big Sister, Sewing, Instant Pot cooking, printed card games, library/reading, crossfit, 4-H, compassion, girls’ issues, FCA; baseball, basketball, cheerleading, football, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, track and volleyball.

Ballard Memorial High School

  • 385 students, grades 9-12
  • 21st Century: Before- and after-school remedial and enrichment services, Monday-Thursday, September-April
  • Leadership opportunities are available through numerous organizations, as well as the Student Ambassadors program. Ballard students have been accepted in nearly every major honors program: Governor’s Scholars, Governor’s School for the Arts, Gatton Academy, Commonwealth Honors Academy, Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership Conference, state FFA degrees, and 4-H Gold Level achievement awards.
  • Ballard’s career and technical center is one of the few locally-funded CTCs, and was named the top-rated CTC in the state of Kentucky by the Southern Regional Education Board. All of our students attend at least one class there.
  • We offer career activities like job shadowing, cooperative work-based learning, and internships in a number of career pathways. Students can graduate with state certifications in welding and nursing, as well as industry certifications in agriculture, business, early childhood development, and industrial maintenance.
  • We offer a variety of dual credit courses through Murray State University and West Kentucky Career and Technical College. Qualifying students can take up to 36 hours of college coursework while they are still in high school, including two tuition-free classes each semester.
  • Activities/clubs/sports: Academic Team, regional science bowl, choir, band, art, drama; FBLA, FCA, FFA, HOSA, SkillsUSA, Beta, Student Council, Pep, Art; TSA, STLP, and STAND; baseball, basketball, cheerleading, football, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, track, and volleyball.225 students, grades 6-8

Special Education Services PK-12

  • Services for pre-K to 12th grade special-needs students; mental health and family counselors available
  • Includes individualized education plans specific to each child’s need and ability level.
  • We also have a joint venture with the Easter Seals Center of Western Kentucky for career placement, and collaboration with the state’s Vocational Rehabilitation office for post-secondary services.

All of our schools are located on a single campus, conveniently located on U.S. 60 just west of LaCenter. We’d love for you to come and see the difference for yourself. You can contact our building principals or superintendent directly, or for more general information about enrollment, our director of pupil personnel. All phone numbers are 270-665-8400, followed by the extensions below:

BCPS/Special Education: Terri Wehmeyer – terri.wehmeyer@ballard.kyschools.us, ext. 2101
BCES: Chris Sheffer – chris.sheffer@ballard.kyschools.us, ext. 2201
BCMS: Amber Parker – amber.parker@ballard.kyschools.us, ext. 2301
BMHS: Leslee Davis – leslee.davis@ballard.kyschools.us, ext. 2501
Superintendent Casey Allen – casey.allen@ballard.kyschools.us, ext. 2001
Director of Pupil Personnel Bob Wilson – bob.wilson@ballard.kyschools.us, ext. 2014

Click HERE for more information about the Ballard County School System.

Advanced Education

Ballard County, Kentucky is a part of the Purchase Area Development District.  Last year, universities in Purchase Area Development District PUMA, KY awarded 4,756 degrees. The student population of Purchase Area Development District PUMA, KY is skewed towards females, with 2,031 male students and 2,725 female students. Most students in Purchase Area Development District PUMA, KY are White (3,959 and 83.2%), followed by Black or African American (304 and 6.39%), Hispanic or Latino (106 and 2.23%), and Two or more races (53 and 1.11%).
The largest universities in Purchase Area Development District PUMA, KY by number of graduates are West Kentucky Community and Technical College (2,444 and 51.4%), and Murray State University (2,267 and 47.7%), The most popular majors in Purchase Area Development District PUMA, KY are Licensed Practical & Vocational Nurse Training (267 and 5.61%), Welding Technology (153 and 3.22%), and Medical Administrative Assistant (141 and 2.96%). The median tuition costs in Purchase Area Development District PUMA, KY are N/A for private four year colleges, and $7,296 and $21,576 respectively, for public four year colleges for in-state students and out-of-state students.
Murray State University’s Hutson School of Agriculture Campus is also being developed right here in Ballard County, which will sustain our future as one of the nations’ leading farm communities.