Summary:
Kenton, Tennessee is home to just one school — Kenton Elementary School — a small PK-4 elementary school with 87 students in the Gibson County Special School District, which ranks 25th out of 141 districts in the state.
For parents considering this area, Kenton Elementary has some impressive bright spots and some clear challenges. The school's biggest strength is English Language Arts. All-grade ELA proficiency is 71.9%, which is 16.6 points above the district's 55.3% and a remarkable 31.3 points above the state's 40.6%. Third-grade ELA is truly exceptional at 92.3% proficiency. However, math and science tell a very different story. All-grade math proficiency is just 32.3%, well below both the district (59.4%) and state (43.0%), and science proficiency is 34.4% versus 65.4% district and 46.9% state. The most concerning figure is 4th grade math, where only 21.1% of students are proficient compared to 65.0% in the district.
Attendance is a clear positive, with just 7.4% chronic absenteeism — less than half the state average of 18.3%. The school also spends generously at $18,948 per student. However, state rankings have been highly volatile: the school ranked in the 90th percentile in 2023-2024, dropped to the 23rd percentile in 2024-2025, and recovered to the 49th percentile in 2025-2026. This volatility is common with such a small enrollment, where a single cohort can dramatically shift results. ELA proficiency also jumped from 29.6% to 71.9% year-over-year, suggesting effective literacy interventions are working — and similar targeted efforts could help close the significant gaps in math and science.
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