Virginia P. Carrithers Middle School

Neighborhood resides middle school with Explore Pathways · Grades 6–8

Resides school, not a magnet · Explore Pathways: business/communication, public service · Jeffersontown / Billtown

Grades: 6th–8th
How to get in: Resides address, no lottery
School day: 8:40 a.m.–3:20 p.m.

An independent look at a resides middle school on Billtown Road that also runs Explore Pathways. JCPS Insider is not run by Jefferson County Public Schools. Confirm your address, dates, and scores with the district.

4320 Billtown Road · Jeffersontown / southeastern Jefferson County · Louisville, Kentucky

Official starting points

School Choice:(502) 485-6250 schoolchoice@jefferson.kyschools.us

What this school is

Virginia P. Carrithers Middle School opened in 1973 on Billtown Road, in the Jeffersontown / southeastern Jefferson County corridor. It is named for Virginia P. Carrithers. The building is a low brick campus with circular courtyard arches — the view parents see from the front walk. Facility records list about 93,000 square feet and a 1973 construction date.

This is a neighborhood middle school first. The 2026–27 Middle School Choices Guide lists it among schools that offer Explore Pathways, not among the districtwide magnet campuses (Brown, Western Arts, the Traditional magnets). Families who live in the Carrithers resides area do not apply to get in. Families who do not live in that area would need a transfer or another official assignment path.

Who runs the building

Jason Watts

Named principal June 12, 2023, after serving as interim from April 2023. Assistant principal at Carrithers since 2014. JCPS teacher since 2005 (Myers, then Conway). Education specialist, master's, and history bachelor's degrees — all from the University of Louisville. Still listed as principal on the 2025–26 data book and the current staff directory.

School details

Address: 4320 Billtown Road, Louisville, KY 40299
Phone: (502) 485-8224
Official JCPS site: jefferson.kyschools.us/o/carrithers(opens in a new tab)

Hours: 8:40 a.m.–3:20 p.m.
Title I school
Board / hours contact: Taylor Everett
Mascot: Cobras

How families get in

If Carrithers is your resides middle school, you do not submit a magnet application. Fifth-graders already in JCPS are assigned automatically unless they live in a Choice Zone or apply somewhere else. Confirm the address in School Finder — East End / Jeffersontown boundaries moved in 2025.

Magnet application is for other campuses (Traditional magnets, Brown, Western Arts, and listed magnet programs). Carrithers itself is not a districtwide magnet.
Explore Pathways are offered to students who already attend Carrithers. They are not a separate lottery that pulls students in from across the county.
Student transfer is a different form, with different dates, and is not guaranteed. Transportation may not be provided.
2026–27 magnet window (for other schools) was November 3–December 19, 2025, with notices in April 2026. That window is closed. Confirm 2027–28 dates on the JCPS calendar.
A seat does not automatically include a bus if you are transferring in. Resides students should still complete the annual Transportation Verification form.

Boundary change parents already heard

In April 2025 the board shifted some incoming sixth-graders away from overcrowded Ramsey Middle.
Students near Wheeler Elementary were assigned to Carrithers; students near GE Appliance Park went to Newburg.
The change applied to new sixth-graders, not students already at Ramsey. Carrithers had about 150 seats under its 690 capacity at the time.

Carrithers is a resides school. The notes above cover how families outside the resides area, or families comparing it with magnets, might get in.

Who it tends to fit

A good match when

Carrithers is your resides school and you want to stay in the Jeffersontown / Billtown area with a bus that follows the regular resides rules.
Your student wants middle-school electives, music, robotics, or Explore Pathways without entering a magnet lottery.
You want a smaller 6–8 building (about 550 students, capacity 690) rather than a 1,100-student middle school.

Think twice when

You are choosing almost entirely on state test rankings. Carrithers' posted KDE bands sit below the state middle-school averages.
You want a Traditional magnet culture (Barret, JCTMS, Johnson) or a whole-school theme campus (Brown, Western Arts).
You do not live in the Carrithers area and are counting on a transfer plus a bus. Ask transportation before you treat that as the plan.

2025–26 Individual School Data Book: 552 students, capacity 690, start 8:40 a.m. The 2026–27 Middle School Choices Guide lists 543. Enrollment has run below capacity, which is why the district sent some Ramsey-area sixth-graders here.

Students

Figures below come from the JCPS Individual School Data Book for Carrithers Middle, 2025–26, unless noted. Small groups are sometimes suppressed. Counts shift after the first month of school.

Diversity index

72%

Standard racial/ethnic diversity index: the chance that two students picked at random are from different reported groups, using the 2025–26 data-book headcounts (552 students). Carrithers is a mixed campus — no single group is a large majority.

Reported race and ethnicity counts for Virginia P. Carrithers Middle School
Group	Students	Share
White	221	40%
Black / African American	140	25%
Hispanic / Latino	128	23%
Two or more races	40	7%
Asian	23	4%

Gender: 301 boys (about 55%) · 251 girls

Free lunch 296 · reduced 20 · paid 236
Multilingual learners 120 (about 22% of enrollment)
Gifted / talented 89
ECE 66 (2024–25, prior-year count)
504 plans 22
Title I: yes, campus-wide

Academics

Look at the Kentucky School Report Card first. Ranking websites do not use the same year or formula. Carrithers' own JCPS homepage posts these KDE-style bands.

Reading: 22% proficient, 8% distinguished (about 30% combined P+D from the school banner).
Math: 22% proficient, 4% distinguished (about 26% combined P+D from the school banner).
U.S. News has used 26% reading and 16% math, and grouped Carrithers in a broad Kentucky middle-school band. Public School Review places overall scores in the bottom half of the state.
The 2025–26 data book flags a KDE indicator rating in the orange band (not the lowest red band). The official report card is the one to cite.
Ask on a tour how Advance Program grouping and intervention time actually work in sixth grade.

Awards and recognition

KMEA music
Distinguished ratings noted in the Choices Guide
Verizon Innovative Learning Lab
Noted in 2024

Current JCPS copy uses the motto 'Explore. Excel. Empower.' Older Choices Guides used 'Educational Excellence in a Neighborhood Setting.'

Location and daily life

Billtown Road sits in southeastern Jefferson County, near Jeffersontown. Convenient if you already travel that corridor or live in the Wheeler / Farmer / Tully / Jeffersontown elementary areas. A different calculation from the West End or far Prospect. Start 8:40 a.m., dismiss 3:20 p.m. on the 2025–26 profile.

Feeder elementaries listed on the 2025–26 school profile: Cochrane, Dr. William H. Perry, Farmer, Jeffersontown, Tully, and Watterson. Students have been Cobras for years (#GoCobras).

Recent news, in context

In April 2025, the board approved a boundary change so some new sixth-graders near Wheeler Elementary would attend Carrithers instead of an overcrowded Ramsey Middle. Students already at Ramsey were not moved. Carrithers had unused capacity. If you bought a house 'for Ramsey,' check School Finder again before sixth grade.

On August 7, 2026, Superintendent Brian Yearwood visited Carrithers on the first day of school as part of a district story about smoother bus mornings. That is a district transportation story, not a Carrithers-only report card.

No published teacher-arrest story tied to Carrithers Middle turned up in the reporting for this guide. JCPS posts school-level suspension totals; those numbers move during the year and are not a substitute for asking how the building handles fights, phones, and hallway supervision.

Compare before you commit

Ramsey Middle(opens the official JCPS page in a new tab)Nearby east-county middle; overcrowded, which is why some new sixth-graders were sent to Carrithers.
Newburg Middle(opens the official JCPS page in a new tab)The other school that received Ramsey overflow (GE Appliance Park area).
Crosby MiddleAnother east-side resides middle with Explore Pathways.
Kammerer MiddleEast End resides option; different commute and feeder pattern.
Barret / JCTMS / JohnsonTraditional magnets. Structured culture, address rules, application required.
Brown or Western ArtsWhole-school theme campuses. Lottery / application, different model than a neighborhood 6–8.

Questions to ask on a tour

1.Is Carrithers still the resides school for my address after the 2025 Ramsey boundary change?
2.How is the Advance Program scheduled, and can a student move into it after sixth grade?
3.What does an Explore Pathway look like in a normal week — a class, a club, or both?
4.How are multilingual learners supported? About one in five students is an ML student.
5.What does after-school care, late activity pickup, and athletics transportation look like?
6.How are phones, fights, and unstructured time handled this year?
7.Which high schools do most Carrithers eighth-graders actually enter?

What to do next

1.Run your address in School Finder. Do not rely on a neighbor's memory from before 2025.
2.If Carrithers is your resides school, register if you are new to JCPS. No magnet application is required to attend.
3.If you want a Traditional or theme magnet instead, use the current Middle School Choices Guide and the on-time window.
4.Tour if you can. Ask about Advance Program and intervention time, not only electives.
5.Complete the Transportation Verification form if you need a bus.
6.If you are offered a different school, read the deadline on the letter. Missed dates can cost the seat.