Obion County Schools

Obion County Schools in Tennessee serves 2,739 students across six schools: four elementary schools (Hillcrest Elementary School, Lake Road Elementary School, Ridgemont Elementary School, and South Fulton Elementary School) and two high schools (Obion County Central High School and South Fulton Middle / High School), with no standalone middle schools. The district is above average overall—ranked 41st of 141 Tennessee districts with a 4-star rating—but its schools vary widely in performance.

The clear standout is South Fulton Middle / High School, which ranks 68th of 400 high schools and posts exceptional math proficiency at 73.3% (30 points above the state) along with strong science and a 94.6% graduation rate. Its main weaknesses are English I and Geometry. Among elementary schools, Hillcrest Elementary School is the top performer—the only elementary school above the state average in ELA—and it does so while spending the least per student ($11,377). Meanwhile, Ridgemont Elementary School spends the most ($14,818) yet ranks lowest in the district, showing that spending does not guarantee results. Obion County Central High School has solid graduation and strong Algebra II/English II scores but struggles with the district’s highest chronic absenteeism rate at 20.2%.

Across the district, math and science are clear strengths, while English Language Arts is a systemic challenge, especially in the elementary grades where three of four schools fall below the state average. Chronic absenteeism is uneven—South Fulton Elementary, Lake Road, and South Fulton Middle / High all have rates near 10–11%, while Hillcrest and Ridgemont are closer to the state average. Elementary school rankings have slipped over the past two years, which may be a concern for future high school performance. Extreme grade-level swings, such as Ridgemont’s 78.6% 8th-grade math versus 9.1% in 3rd-grade math, suggest small cohorts can skew results. Parents should note the limited data on poverty and class size, and that South Fulton Middle / High’s all-grades scores include middle school students, making direct comparisons to traditional high schools imperfect.