William Wells Brown Elementary sees turnaround as Fayette County Promise Academy

LEXINGTON, Ky. (ABC36 NEWS NOW) – Once ranked among the lowest-performing elementary schools in Kentucky, William Wells Brown Elementary is now writing a very different story.

The school, now operating as a Promise Academy through Fayette County Public Schools, is showing measurable academic improvement and renewed confidence under the leadership of Principal Ebony Hutchinson.

The Promise initiative is a partnership between Fayette County Public Schools and local government, aimed at improving educational outcomes in high-need areas by providing additional resources, wraparound services and community support.

When Hutchinson took over in 2020, she inherited a school ranked in the bottom five percent statewide in test scores — at one point the lowest-performing elementary school in Kentucky.

But she made her expectations clear from the beginning.

“I told my staff from Day 1. I want us to be the best school in Fayette County, the best school in the state,” Hutchinson said.

She believes students will rise to the level of expectations set for them.

“Kids will reach as far as you hold that bar for them,” she said. “If the bar is low, that’s where they are going to go. But if the bar is high, they are going to continue to reach that bar and they may even surpass that bar. Knowing this is what they deserve — they deserve the very best — and that’s what I knew that I had to give them.”

The shift didn’t happen overnight. School leaders say they first had to focus on strengthening instruction and supporting teachers.

Instructional Coach Amanda Stewart said early challenges were clear.

“Our student scores, yes we struggled in reading, struggled in math and struggled in writing,” Stewart said. “But in order to make that student improvement, we really had to focus on our teachers and growing them as learners and leaders in order for that to reflect in our student achievement.”

That strategy appears to be working.

“Last year we made astronomical growth,” Stewart said. “We’ve moved from in the state testing system from the red all the way through where we are now as a yellow school. We are this close to moving up to the next level as well — we’re less than a point away from that.”

The school’s most recent accountability score was 67.9 — just under three points away from reaching the “green” performance level.

Hutchinson, who was named Principal of the Year for 2025, says belief in teachers and students has been central to the turnaround.

“For us, I know that our belief in teachers and staff and their belief in kids” has made the difference, she said.

That belief extends into the classroom. Pre-school teacher Laurie Edmond was named District Teacher of the Year for 2025.

“That makes it even more special,” Edmond said. “Like I said, your demographics don’t define you, and so maybe that’s an example to the kids that we can do it.”

For Hutchinson and her team, the mission is clear: change the trajectory of students’ lives by raising expectations and providing the support they need to meet them.

School leaders say William Wells Brown is no longer defined by its past performance — but by the progress happening every day inside its classrooms.