Milan Special School District

Milan Special School District in Tennessee serves about 2,026 students across four schools — Milan Elementary School (PK–4, 846 students), Milan Middle School (5–8, 618 students), Milan High School (9–12, 523 students), and Milan High School Academy (9–12, 39 students) — and ranks 50th out of 141 Tennessee districts at the 65th percentile with a 3-star rating. The district's overall rank masks wide internal gaps: elementary achievement is strong, middle school ELA is weak, high school results are mixed, and the Academy program struggles.

Milan Elementary School is the district's academic bright spot, with math proficiency of 54.4% and ELA of 51.9%, both above state averages. Its 4th grade math proficiency of 71.0% is 21.6 points above the state, and its state percentile ranking has improved three years straight. Milan Middle School excels at Algebra I acceleration — 80% proficiency among 8th-grade test-takers — but its ELA proficiency is just 31.0%, a 20.9-point drop from the elementary level, and its ranking has fallen from the 72nd to the 52nd percentile. Milan High School boasts a 98.3% graduation rate and strong English II results (65.7%), but English I proficiency is just 27.5%, nearly 10 points below the state. Milan High School Academy, with 39 students, faces major challenges: 18.2% chronic absenteeism, an 88.9% graduation rate, and Algebra II and Geometry proficiency of just 9.1%.

The most striking patterns include the sharp ELA decline between elementary (51.9%) and middle school (31.0%), the Algebra I paradox where accelerated middle schoolers score 80% proficient while 9th graders at Milan High School score just 25.9%, and the large English I to English II gap at the high school. Attendance is a strength across the three main schools, with chronic absenteeism between 5.0% and 12.6%, well below the state's 18.3%, though the Academy's 18.2% rate is a notable exception. Per-student spending is also uneven: the three comprehensive schools spend about $13,000 per student, while the Academy spends just $6,535. The district offers a strong elementary experience and excellent graduation rates, but middle school literacy, 9th-grade English, and the Academy program warrant close attention.