Summary:
Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, is served by three public schools — Pigeon Forge Intermediate School (grades 4–6), Pigeon Forge Junior High School (grades 7–9), and Pigeon Forge High School (grades 10–12) — all part of the Sevier County Schools district, which ranks 93rd out of 141 districts in Tennessee and holds a 2-star rating. The three schools enroll a combined 1,318 students across grades 4 through 12.
The intermediate school stands out as the most academically consistent of the three. It posts the strongest math (37.5%) and ELA (30.9%) proficiency rates, and its chronic absenteeism of 16.8% is the only rate better than the state average of 18.3%. The junior high offers the single brightest academic highlight in the city — a 71.4% Geometry proficiency rate that more than doubles the district average of 36.5% — yet its overall scores in Algebra I (25.9%) and Biology I (29.6%) lag far behind state averages. The high school shines in graduation outcomes with a 94.6% graduation rate and a 3.9% dropout rate, both better than state averages, but it also carries the highest chronic absenteeism at 27.9% and the lowest state ranking percentile (20th).
Across the city, a clear pattern emerges: academic proficiency declines as students advance through grade levels, and chronic absenteeism rises from 16.8% at the intermediate school to 23.3% at the junior high and 27.9% at the high school. Notably, spending does not appear to drive outcomes — the high school spends the most at $20,277 per student yet produces the lowest relative test scores, while the junior high spends the least at $13,256. The high school's state ranking has also slipped steadily from 261st in 2023–2024 to 321st in 2025–2026. For parents, the takeaway is that Pigeon Forge offers strong engagement at the elementary level, a remarkable Geometry program at the junior high, and reliable graduation at the high school, but overall academic proficiency trails both district and state averages at nearly every grade level.
Thank you for your feedback!