Fairview Marguerite School

Fairview Marguerite School is a PK-5 public elementary school in Morristown, Tennessee, serving 490 students as part of Hamblen County Schools, a district that ranks in the middle of Tennessee school systems. However, Fairview itself is the lowest-ranked elementary school in its immediate district cohort, sitting in the 25th percentile statewide with a 1-star rating for 2025-2026. This is not a new trend—Fairview has consistently ranked between the 11th and 35th percentiles for over a decade. What makes this particularly noteworthy is that nearby schools in the same district, such as Alpha Elementary School and Russellville Elementary School, rank in the 77th-86th percentile, proving that high performance is achievable within the same district context.

The most pronounced academic weakness is science, where only 26% of Fairview students are proficient compared to 44.5% for the district and 46.9% for the state. This 20-point gap is the largest of any subject and places Fairview at the bottom of the local comparison group, with Union Heights Elementary School and Lincoln Heights Elementary School performing nearly twice as well in this area. Math shows a distinctive grade-level decline: Fairview's 3rd graders actually outperformed the district average in math, but by 5th grade, only 32.1% are proficient versus the district's 51.4%. This contrasts with higher-performing peers like Alpha and Russellville, which maintain or improve math scores through the upper grades. English language arts is the one bright spot academically, rising from 20.9% to 35.5% proficiency over two years, though it still trails the state average of 40.6%.

Several positive factors stand out. Fairview's chronic absenteeism rate of 9.4% is dramatically better than the district rate of 14.9% and the state rate of 18.3%, improving by nearly half in just two years. The school also spends more per pupil ($13,403) than several schools that outperform it, including Alpha and Manley Elementary School, suggesting funding is not the issue. Subgroup outcomes are improving meaningfully for English learners (now at the 69th percentile statewide) and low-income students (58th percentile), though special education students remain a serious concern at the 18th percentile. With attendance strong and ELA improving, Fairview appears to be at a turning point—but sustained gains in upper-elementary math and science have not yet followed, leaving overall performance still near the bottom of its local cohort.