Summary:
Harrogate, Tennessee is home to three public schools—Ellen Myers Primary School, H. Y. Livesay Middle School, and Forge Ridge School—all part of Claiborne County Schools, a district ranked in the bottom 18% of Tennessee. These schools serve students from pre-kindergarten through 8th grade, and there is no high school within the city, so students transition to county high schools afterward.
H. Y. Livesay Middle School is the clear standout, earning a 4-star rating for three consecutive years and ranking in the top 24% of Tennessee middle schools despite its low-ranked district. It outperforms both the district and state averages in ELA, Science, and Social Studies, with 8th-grade results that are particularly impressive—56.7% proficiency in math and 65.7% in science, both far above state averages. Ellen Myers Primary School is on the rise, improving from the 48th to the 61st percentile over three years and posting above-state proficiency in ELA and Science, though its 4th-grade math proficiency (29.5%) lags well behind the state (49.4%). In contrast, Forge Ridge School is a high concern: its state rank has plummeted from the 60th to the 19th percentile in three years, and it trails district and state averages in nearly every subject.
Forge Ridge also has the highest chronic absenteeism rate at 35.8%—nearly double the state average—and spends the most per student at $18,714, about $6,000 more than the other two schools, yet produces the lowest academic outcomes. Even Ellen Myers has an absenteeism rate above the state, suggesting attendance is a district-wide challenge. Livesay is the only school near the state average for chronic absenteeism. The contrasting picture—strong performance at Livesay, steady improvement at Ellen Myers, and declining results at Forge Ridge despite higher spending—highlights the urgent need for Claiborne County to address attendance and the spending-outcome gap at Forge Ridge.
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