Best Public Schools in Counce, TN

Counce, Tennessee is served by a single public school, Pickwick Southside School, a Pre-K through 8th grade campus with 223 students that is part of Hardin County Schools. As the only school in the city, Pickwick Southside combines elementary and middle school grades on one campus, and there are no standalone middle schools, high schools, or alternative schools in the area.

Pickwick Southside School currently ranks 666th out of 1,019 Tennessee schools (35th percentile, 2 stars), landing in the lower-middle range of schools statewide. The school trails the state average in all four tested subjects, with the most significant gap in Social Studies (29.1% proficient vs. 51.4% statewide) and the smallest gap in English Language Arts (35.4% vs. 40.6%). There are clear bright spots, however — 4th graders exceeded district and state averages in ELA (60.7%), Science (50.0%), and Math (42.9%), suggesting that grade-level instruction is a model worth replicating. The most concerning struggles are concentrated in the middle grades, particularly 6th grade math (7.1% proficient), 7th grade math (15.8%), and 8th grade ELA (13.6%), all far below state averages.

Perhaps the biggest red flag is chronic absenteeism: 26.3% of students were chronically absent in 2024-2025, well above the district rate of 16.7% and state rate of 18.3%. The school spends a substantial $15,912 per student, yet academic outcomes remain below state averages, indicating that additional spending alone is not translating into proficiency gains. Because the school has only 223 students, proficiency rates can swing dramatically from year to year with just a few students, but the consistent low performance across multiple grades and subjects points to real systemic challenges. The school also saw a steep decline in Science proficiency, dropping from 41.4% to 34.5% in one year. For parents, the key takeaway is that Pickwick Southside offers some strong elementary instruction, particularly in 4th grade, but faces meaningful challenges in middle-school math, social studies, attendance, and overall state competitiveness.