Summary:
White Bluff, Tennessee has two public schools—White Bluff Elementary School (PK–5, 479 students) and W James Middle School (6–8, 239 students)—both in Dickson County Schools, a district ranked 54th out of 141 in Tennessee. There is no high school in White Bluff, so students leave the city after eighth grade. The elementary school ranks in the 55th percentile statewide; the middle school ranks in the 66th percentile; both earn 3 stars.
The two schools have distinct strengths. White Bluff Elementary is stronger in English Language Arts, with 46.6% proficient versus 33.2% at W James Middle, and it also beats district and state averages in ELA. In science, however, the middle school is the leader: 58.3% proficient versus 54.1% at the elementary school, both well above the state average of 46.9%. W James Middle also shines in social studies at 61.4% proficient, especially in 7th grade, where 80.2% of students meet the bar. But math is a shared weakness: elementary math proficiency is 36.7% and middle school math is 33.8%, both below the state's 43.0%. The middle school's 7th grade ELA is especially low at 25.9%, while 8th grade rebounds to 34.3%.
Chronic absenteeism is below the state average of 18.3% at both schools—13.9% at the elementary and 14.9% at the middle school—and per-student spending is nearly identical at roughly $14,200. Yet rankings have slipped: White Bluff Elementary fell from the 68th to 55th percentile, and W James Middle has declined from the 78th to 66th percentile over three years. In middle school math, proficiency drops steadily from 41.3% in 6th grade to 28.1% in 8th grade, suggesting students need extra support as coursework intensifies. Overall, parents will find strong science instruction and a notable social studies outlier, but math and middle-school reading are the clearest areas needing attention.
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