Lewis County

Six schools serve the area: four elementary schools, one middle school and one high school, with 1,942 students enrolled. In 2025–2026, the schools’ reported results averaged 40%, compared with 43% for the state; writing was a relative strength at 51% versus 40%, while mathematics averaged 34% versus 42%. Results vary sharply even among schools serving the same grades. The most important finding is that the area’s schools are far from uniform: some show exceptional strengths, while others have very low results in the same subjects.

Tollesboro Elementary School stands out in elementary reading, leading reported results in grades 3–6; it scored 69% in grade 4, 70% in grade 5 and 72% in grade 6. Its fifth-grade writing result was 77%, 42 points above the state and 44 points above the next-highest reported school. Garrison Elementary School led reported elementary mathematics in grades 3–5, with 45%, 39% and 40%, though its grade 4 and 5 results were below the state’s 43%. At the lower end, Lewis County Central Elementary School scored 16% in fifth-grade mathematics and 14% in fifth-grade social studies, versus state results of 43% and 38%. Lewis County Middle School and Lewis County High School had strong writing results: 62% and 59%, respectively, each 12–14 points above the state. Several results at Laurel Elementary School are suppressed, limiting comparisons.

Matched results fell by 8 points at Central, 9 at Garrison and 6 at Tollesboro from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026, while middle school rose 3 points and high school rose 1. SchoolDigger’s statewide percentile rankings also fell for Central, from 44 to 17, and high school, from 64 to 49; Tollesboro’s was 68 in 2025–2026, above its 2023–2024 result of 63 but below its 2024–2025 high of 79. School characteristics do not form a simple pattern: free/reduced lunch eligible shares in 2024–2025 ranged from 69% at Central and Garrison to 80% at Laurel, while Tollesboro’s was 73% and its reading and writing results were especially strong. Its student-teacher ratio was 13.2, compared with 15.9 at Central and 14.2 at Garrison. High school graduation was 96% versus 94% statewide, but chronic absenteeism was 39%, above the state’s 24%.