Summary:
Benton County Schools in Camden, Tennessee, serves a single middle school option: Camden Junior High School, which enrolls 373 students in grades 6–8 and sits within a district ranked 112th out of 141 in Tennessee. Because this is the district's only middle school, the story here is really about how Camden Junior High compares to district and state averages, and how it has changed over the past two years.
The school earned 3 stars in both 2023–2024 and 2024–2025, peaking at the 61st percentile statewide, before dropping to 2 stars and the 37th percentile in 2025–2026. That drop tracks a broad year-over-year decline: math proficiency fell from 44.4% to 32.7%, science from 47.8% to 38.2%, and English Language Arts from 27.9% to 22.8%. In 2024–2025 the school actually beat the state in math and science, but in 2025–2026 it fell below state averages in every subject. English Language Arts is the clearest concern — fewer than one in four students are proficient overall, and 8th grade is lowest at 20.8%. On the positive side, 7th-grade Social Studies stands out at 64.7% proficiency, well above the state's 56.0%, and 8th-grade Science at 48.3% edges out the state's 44.3%. The school also beat its district in math at every grade level.
Other notable data points: chronic absenteeism is 18.4%, slightly above both the district (16.9%) and state (18.3%). Per-pupil spending is $13,053, though free/reduced lunch and student–teacher ratio data are not reported. For parents, the key takeaways are to pay attention to literacy support, watch whether the math and science declines continue, and recognize that the school has proven it can outperform state averages in specific subjects. The 2025–2026 drop in state ranking is real but came after a year of clear improvement, suggesting Camden Junior High has both bright spots and areas needing urgent attention.
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