Best Public Schools in Dunlap, TN

The city of Dunlap, Tennessee, is served by three public schools — Griffith Elementary School (PK–4), Sequatchie County Middle School (5–8), and Sequatchie County High School (9–12) — with a combined enrollment of 1,924 students, all within the Sequatchie County Schools district, which ranks 95th out of 141 Tennessee districts (33rd percentile) with a 2-star rating. The data reveals a clear pattern: strong elementary performance, a troubling middle school decline, and a high school that excels in science and history but struggles in math.

Among the three schools, Sequatchie County High School is the strongest overall, earning a 3-star rating and ranking in the 62nd percentile statewide, with a 93.0% graduation rate above the state average of 90.5%. It excels in science and history — Biology I proficiency is 65.1% versus 49.8% statewide, and U.S. History is 62.6% versus 42.4% — but lags in math, with Geometry at 27.6% versus 42.3% statewide. Griffith Elementary School is the bright spot in core subjects, exceeding state averages in both math (47.0% vs. 43.0%) and ELA (43.5% vs. 40.6%), though its rank has slipped from the 53rd to the 46th percentile over three years. Sequatchie County Middle School is the biggest concern, ranking in the 30th percentile and trailing the state average in every subject, with math at 25.8% and ELA at 24.5% — a sharp drop from the 44th percentile the previous year.

Chronic absenteeism is a district-wide crisis: all three schools exceed 30%, roughly 12–15 points above the state average of 18.3%, with the high school highest at 33.7%. There is also a major academic drop between elementary and middle school — Griffith Elementary School exceeds state averages while Sequatchie County Middle School falls 17–19 points below in the same subjects. The high school's English II proficiency collapsed from 68.5% to 51.2% in one year, and spending differences do not explain performance gaps: the middle school spends the least at $11,940 per student, while the elementary school achieves better outcomes with $13,076 and the high school receives the most at $13,137.