Principal
A Message From the Principal
Dear Students and Parents,
Welcome to Ballard High School, home of the Bruins. I am honored to serve as the fifth principal at one of Kentucky’s premier schools. Here at Ballard, we believe in giving each student the opportunity to participate in a diverse curriculum that challenges all students to excel at the highest level.
Each year our students rise to this challenge, which has allowed Ballard High School to be recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as one of the finest schools in the country. Additionally, to Ballard’s credit, Newsweek and U.S. News and World Report has listed Ballard as one the “Best American High Schools”. In our state, Ballard consistently ranks among the top five schools in the total number of National Merit Finalists and annually out performs Kentucky and U.S. averages on the ACT and SAT national exams.
Ballard High School offers courses across a broad academic scope, including Advance Placement®, Advanced Program, and Honors courses, each taught in a learning rich environment that prepares students for the demands of post-secondary education. Our AP® program offers over 20 courses through which students may earn college credit with a qualifying score on the AP exam.
As a Communication, Media, and Arts Magnet, Ballard students may participate in any one of our award-winning programs that include: our KMEA awarded choir, orchestra, and band programs; our Scholastic® awarded Visual Arts program; our state awarded Journalism and Broadcasting programs; our NCTE awarded Digital Media and Creative Writing programs; and our Theater Arts program that produces six full stage productions each year. Each of these programs allow students a hands-on learning experience using state of the art equipment.
The winning tradition at Ballard is not limited to the classroom alone. Ballard offers over twenty-three different sports along with nearly fifty clubs and activities. Our fifty-eight state championships in thirteen different sports is a testament to the drive, the commitment, and the determination of our student-athletes and their coaches to excellence. Likewise, Ballard’s fifty different clubs provide every student the opportunity to make academic, social, or philanthropic connections to the community and beyond. There is truly a place for every student at Ballard to shine and to show his or her best.
As principal at Ballard High School, I am committed to ensuring a positive school climate exists where students are challenged to make connections between academic content and their everyday lives. With this goal always in sight, I am excited to lead the students and staff at Ballard High School, one of the best schools in the state of Kentucky. Go Bruins!
Jason Neuss, Ed.D.
