Tennessee has named its 2022-2023 top schools. Here's which Memphis ones made the cut.
In December, the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) assigned letter grades to the state’s public schools, using an A-F scale. Now, the agency has also released its annual school and district designations for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Districts could receive one of five designations: exemplary, advancing, satisfactory, marginal, or in need of improvement. “Exemplary” is the highest designation, while “in need of improvement” is the lowest and represents school systems that fall in the bottom five percent of all districts.
For specific schools this year, there was only one designation: the “reward” status, which was given to schools that demonstrated high levels of academic performance, academic improvement, or both.
Which Memphis-Shelby County schools earned reward status?
Memphis-Shelby County Schools received a “satisfactory” designation, a step down from the “advancing” designation it received in the 2021-2022 academic year. Still, it remains a better result than the district has received previously. In 2019, for example, it fell into the "in need of improvement" category. And in 2022-2023, 34 of the district’s schools – including charter schools – received “reward” status, representing about 8.5% of the 400 schools that received the honor.
The schools are:
Arrow Academy of Excellence
Balmoral/Ridgeway Elementary
Campus School
Circles Of Success Learning Academy
Compass Community School, Hickory Hill Campus
East High
Freedom Prep Elementary - Millbranch
Hawkins Mill Elementary
Hollis F. Price Middle College
J. P. Freeman Elementary/Middle
Journey East Academy
KIPP Memphis Academy Middle
KIPP Memphis Collegiate Elementary
KIPP Memphis Collegiate Middle
Leadership Preparatory Charter School
Medical District High School
Memphis Business Academy Elementary School
Memphis Business Academy Hickory Hill Middle School
Memphis College Preparatory
Memphis STEM Academy
Middle College High
Newberry Elementary
Oak Forest Elementary
Oakhaven High
Oakshire Elementary
Perea Elementary School
Richland Elementary
Southern Avenue Charter School of Academic Excellence Creative Arts
University Middle
Vision Preparatory Charter School
White Station High
Whitney Elementary
William Herbert Brewster Elementary School
Winridge Elementary
Where are the priority schools?
Typically, TDOE also provides a list of priority schools, which are consistently low-performing schools that score among the bottom 5% on the state's standardized tests or have low graduation rates. This year, however, the agency opted not to put the “priority” label on schools, citing stalls in federal accountability approvals and the letter grades.
A TDOE spokesperson provided the following statement:
“After delays in federal accountability approvals from the US Department of Education, and the first-ever implementation of the A-F school letter grade law this school year, the department has elected to not to update the state's priority school list and focus on supporting schools and districts in the implementation of policies and strategies designed to improve student outcomes.”
While the department didn’t release a list of priority schools, there were four MSCS charter schools that were on the priority list last year but received the Reward designation this year. They are Arrow Academy of Excellence, KIPP Memphis Collegiate Middle, KIPP Memphis Academy Middle, and Memphis Business Academy Hickory Hill Middle School.
No school districts in the Memphis area obtained the “exemplary” designation from TDOE. Arlington Community Schools, Bartlett City Schools, Collierville Schools, Germantown Municipal Schools, Lakeland Schools, and Millington Municipal Schools all received “advancing” status, the second highest designation.
- Rachel Wegner contributed to this reporting.
John Klyce covers education and children's issues for The Commercial Appeal. You can reach him at John.klyce@commercialappeal.com.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: What are Tennessee's top schools: See which Memphis ones made the cut