High Schools in Shelby County

Shelby County has four high schools serving grades 9–12, 6–12, and 7–12, with enrollment ranging from 32 to 1,157 students. The two largest schools, Martha Layne Collins High School and Shelby County High School, have high graduation rates—93% and 95%—compared with 94% statewide, but their chronic absenteeism rates are 24% and 31%, versus 24% statewide. The most important caution for families is that strong graduation rates do not mean attendance is strong, especially at Shelby County High.

In 2025–2026 results, Collins is the most frequent subject leader: it leads in grade 10 math (40%, matching the state), reading (48%, one point below the state), and grade 11 social studies (35%, two points below the state), and ties with Shelby County High in science at 18%. Shelby County leads in writing (40% to Collins’s 38%) and editing and mechanics (35% to 30%). Cultivate’s results are lower where scores are reported, including 15% in grade 10 reading versus 48% at Collins—a 33-point spread—and 5% in grade 11 science versus 18% at each large school. Ascension has no reportable school proficiency figures in these comparisons; its chronic absenteeism is 54%, compared with 24% statewide.

Across six subjects, the two large schools’ average rose from 32% in 2024–2025 to 34% in 2025–2026, while the state average moved from 39% to 39%; the gap narrowed by about one point. That improvement came from Shelby County High, whose average rose by 6 points, while Collins’s fell by 3. SchoolDigger ranks Collins 161st of 262 statewide schools (39th percentile), ahead of Shelby County High at 183rd (30th) and Cultivate at 247th (6th). In 2024–2025, their student-teacher ratios were 18.3, 19.1, and 82.0, respectively. Their free/reduced lunch eligible shares that year were 39%, 44%, and 46%; Ascension’s was 75%. These figures offer context, not an explanation for score differences, and small enrollment and differing grade spans make some comparisons less stable.