Monroe County Schools

Monroe County Schools is a 13-school district in Tennessee serving approximately 5,006 students across elementary, middle, and high school grades. The district ranks 122nd out of 141 Tennessee districts (1 star), with proficiency rates generally falling below state averages and chronic absenteeism a district-wide concern.

Within the district, there are clear bright spots. Vonore Elementary School is the district's academic leader, with math (51.3%) and ELA (48.7%) proficiency above state averages and the lowest chronic absenteeism rate (12.7%). Tellico Plains Elementary School and Madisonville Intermediate School also outperform the state in some subjects, with Madisonville jumping from the 27th to 47th percentile in two years. At the middle school level, Vonore Middle School leads its peers in social studies (53.0%) and 8th-grade math (53.2%). Among high schools, Sweetwater High School has a 95.9% graduation rate and a 2.7% dropout rate, while Tellico Plains High School is the best-ranked traditional high school with a 95.4% graduation rate.

The district's biggest concerns are concentrated in a few areas. Sequoyah High School stands out negatively with the lowest graduation rate (81.6%) and highest dropout rate (13.9%). Chronic absenteeism affects most schools, with Coker Creek Elementary School at 39.3% and the district average of 21.5% exceeding the state's 18.3%. Coker Creek also spends the most per student ($20,993) yet has the lowest test scores, showing funding alone doesn't drive results. Middle school proficiency lags well below state averages across all three middle schools. Monroe County Virtual School offers a different profile with low test scores but a 90.5% graduation rate and the district's lowest dropout rate at 1.6%.