Paintsville High School is a secondary-level school located in

Paintsville Paintsville () is a home rule-class city along Paint Creek in Johnson County, Kentucky, in the United States. It is the seat of its county. The population was 3,459 during the 2010 U.S. Census. History A Paint Lick Station was referred to in ...

Johnson County, Kentucky Johnson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 22,680. Its county seat is Paintsville. The county was formed in 1843 and named for Richard Mentor Johnson, a colonel of the War of 1 ...

and is part of the Paintsville Independent School District. Its student enrollment as of the 2023–2024 school year was 321 in grades 7 through 12. The average student to teacher ratio in classes at Paintsville High School is 14:1.

History

The Paintsville Independent School system was organized in 1889 originally as the Paintsville Free Graded School. In 1892, the first building of Paintsville High School was built. It was ravaged by fire shortly thereafter, and was rebuilt. The early curriculum at Paintsville High was formidable. Eighth grade students studied subjects including

physiology Physiology (; ) is the science, scientific study of function (biology), functions and mechanism (biology), mechanisms in a life, living system. As a branches of science, subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ syst ...

U.S. History The history of the present-day United States began in roughly 15,000 BC with the arrival of Peopling of the Americas, the first people in the Americas. In the late 15th century, European colonization of the Americas, European colonization beg ...

geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

drawing Drawing is a Visual arts, visual art that uses an instrument to mark paper or another two-dimensional surface, or a digital representation of such. Traditionally, the instruments used to make a drawing include pencils, crayons, and ink pens, some ...

algebra Algebra is a branch of mathematics that deals with abstract systems, known as algebraic structures, and the manipulation of expressions within those systems. It is a generalization of arithmetic that introduces variables and algebraic ope ...

writing Writing is the act of creating a persistent representation of language. A writing system includes a particular set of symbols called a ''script'', as well as the rules by which they encode a particular spoken language. Every written language ...

and

moral philosophy Ethics is the philosophical study of moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches include normative ethics, applied et ...

. The ninth through twelfth grades studied and even harder curriculum, with subjects such as English,

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

, advanced algebra,

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

trigonometry Trigonometry () is a branch of mathematics concerned with relationships between angles and side lengths of triangles. In particular, the trigonometric functions relate the angles of a right triangle with ratios of its side lengths. The fiel ...

surveying Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the land, terrestrial Plane (mathematics), two-dimensional or Three-dimensional space#In Euclidean geometry, three-dimensional positions of Point (geom ...

bookkeeping Bookkeeping is the recording of financial transactions, and is part of the process of accounting in business and other organizations. It involves preparing source documents for all transactions, operations, and other events of a business. T ...

and mental philosophy. The student population was only 185 students with four teachers in 1894. Paintsville High School has enjoyed success in

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

throughout the years, including state championships in basketball and baseball, though it is known more for its successes in academia. By the late 1920s, some graduates of Paintsville High School had received doctorates in disciplines including education, chemistry, medicine and physics. Military academies accepted graduates as well, some of whom attained field grade officer ranks, and one of whom made the rank of

rear admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

following

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Recent test scores

Since 2003, Paintsville High School has exceeded the state averages in all subjects tested, for all grades tested (ninth grade is not tested) on the Kentucky Core Content Test (KCCT). Since 2003, Paintsville High School has surpassed the national averages on the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CTBS) exam, in all subjects. In 2009, Paintsville was ranked as the third district in the state on the ACT exam given to all juniors.

Student diversity

The percentages of student diversity of Paintsville High School are: White, not Hispanic: 98%
Black, not Hispanic: <1%
Asian/Pacific Islander: <1%
Hispanic: <1%

Awards

2009 Bronze Medal - America's Best High Schools by ''US News''

Notable alumni

Tyler Childers Timothy Tyler Childers ( ; born June 21, 1991) is an American country singer and songwriter. His music has been described as a mix of neotraditional country, bluegrass, folk, and honky-tonk. His breakthrough studio album, ''Purgatory'' (2017) ...

, musician, songwriter * Johnnie LeMaster, longtime shortstop of the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

. Drafted #6 overall in 1973, the highest a player from Kentucky has ever been selected in the MLB Draft. *

John Pelphrey John Leslie Pelphrey (born July 18, 1968) is an American college basketball coach, currently the head coach of the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles men's basketball, Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles. After being named Kentucky Mr. Basketball in 1987, he ...

, 1987 Kentucky "Mr. Basketball", former men's head basketball coach for the

Arkansas Razorbacks The Arkansas Razorbacks, also known as the Hogs, are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams representing the University of Arkansas, located in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Fayetteville. The University of Arkans ...

References

{{authority control Public high schools in Kentucky Educational institutions established in 1889 Schools in Johnson County, Kentucky 1889 establishments in Kentucky Paintsville, Kentucky