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Cummings Elementary/Middle

Public, Magnet Grades PK, KG-8
962nd
SchoolDigger Rank ?
of 1,009 Tennessee Elementary Schools
Better than 5% of Tennessee elementary schools
Summary

Cummings Elementary/Middle is a public magnet school serving grades PK-8 in Memphis, Tennessee, which is part of the Memphis-Shelby County Schools district. The school has consistently ranked in the bottom 10% of Tennessee elementary schools over the past several years, with a ranking between 919-962 out of around 1,000 schools.

Cummings Elementary/Middle faces significant challenges, including consistently performing well below the district and state averages across all subject areas. For example, in the 2024-2025 school year, only 12.2% of Cummings students were proficient or better in Math, compared to 22.6% for the district and 42.2% for the state. The school's performance is particularly low in 3rd-7th grade Math and ELA, with proficiency rates often below 15%. Additionally, Cummings has extremely high chronic absenteeism rates, ranging from 18.9% to 58.7% over the past few years, which is significantly higher than the district and state averages.

While the nearby schools in the same district, such as Circles Of Success Learning Academy, Bruce Elementary, Ida B. Wells Academy Elementary School/Middle School, and Rozelle Elementary, also perform poorly, with most ranking in the bottom 20% of Tennessee elementary schools, some of these schools, such as Ida B. Wells and Rozelle, perform slightly better than Cummings across various metrics. Despite the relatively high per-student spending at Cummings, ranging from $12,580 to $18,175 per year, the school's low performance suggests that addressing the complex issues facing the school will require a comprehensive, multi-faceted approach involving the school, district, and community stakeholders.

379
Students ?
11.5
Student/teacher ratio ?
$15,100
Per pupil spending ?
96.2%
Free/discounted lunch ?
 1037 Cummings St
       Memphis, TN  38106-2209

(901) 416-7810

District: Memphis-Shelby County Schools


Students who attend Cummings Elementary/Middle usually attend:

High:    B. T. Washington High
Racial breakdown:

African American:
98.2%
Hispanic:
0.8%
Two or more races:
0.8%
more
 See top rated Tennessee elementary schools

 Compare Cummings Elementary/Middle to nearby elementary schools!
At a glance
Ranking trend: Holding steady — 6th percentile in 2018 → 5th in 2025
Strengths
Small classes — about 12 students per teacher
Worth a look
!Test scores below the Tennessee average (10% vs 43% meeting standards)
!In the lower quartile statewide (5th percentile)
!High chronic absenteeism (49% vs 18% Tennessee)
Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?
This school10%
District avg25%
Tennessee avg43%
Elementary school
962nd of 1,009
Tennessee public elementary schools ?
Bottom 5%▼ down 1 pts since 2018
See the entire ranking list of Tennessee Elementary Schools →
SchoolDigger rating ?
Middle school
575th of 583
Tennessee public middle schools ?
Bottom 1%▼ down 1 pts since 2018
See the entire ranking list of Tennessee Middle Schools →
SchoolDigger rating ?
97th of 120Elementary Schools in the Memphis-Shelby County Schools
135th of 139Memphis-Shelby County Schools among Tennessee districts
Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)
Elementary school ranking
Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankTennessee percentileRating
20258.0962 of 10094.7%☆☆☆☆☆
202412.3927 of 10188.9%☆☆☆☆☆
202312.7922 of 10209.6%☆☆☆☆☆
202212.1919 of 10008.1%☆☆☆☆☆
201911.4925 of 9856.1%☆☆☆☆☆
201811.3936 of 9976.1%☆☆☆☆☆

African American

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankTennessee percentileRating
202517.5443 of 49811.0%★☆☆☆☆
202425.7374 of 49824.9%★☆☆☆☆
202325.4377 of 50024.6%★☆☆☆☆
202226.4363 of 48324.8%★☆☆☆☆
201923.4327 of 40419.1%★☆☆☆☆
201824.9359 of 45020.2%★☆☆☆☆

Female

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankTennessee percentileRating
20258.6949 of 9863.8%☆☆☆☆☆
202414.1883 of 99010.8%★☆☆☆☆
202312.0908 of 9898.2%☆☆☆☆☆
202213.8874 of 97510.4%★☆☆☆☆
20215.7943 of 9450.2%☆☆☆☆☆
201914.3850 of 9268.2%☆☆☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankTennessee percentileRating
202515.5792 of 8436.0%☆☆☆☆☆
202419.8760 of 85310.9%★☆☆☆☆
202321.7741 of 86514.3%★☆☆☆☆
202224.4715 of 85816.7%★☆☆☆☆
201918.9749 of 8218.8%☆☆☆☆☆
201828.5698 of 87720.4%★☆☆☆☆

Male

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankTennessee percentileRating
202512.1908 of 9847.7%☆☆☆☆☆
202413.1902 of 9919.0%☆☆☆☆☆
202316.5856 of 98713.3%★☆☆☆☆
20229.1947 of 9803.4%☆☆☆☆☆
201911.7871 of 9164.9%☆☆☆☆☆
Middle school ranking
Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankTennessee percentileRating
20255.2575 of 5831.4%☆☆☆☆☆
202411.6526 of 58710.4%★☆☆☆☆
20237.0575 of 5943.2%☆☆☆☆☆
20225.6567 of 5690.4%☆☆☆☆☆
20196.1569 of 5740.9%☆☆☆☆☆
20185.8551 of 5632.1%☆☆☆☆☆

African American

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankTennessee percentileRating
202512.8297 of 3124.8%☆☆☆☆☆
202424.2243 of 31823.6%★☆☆☆☆
202316.1296 of 3166.3%☆☆☆☆☆
202215.3283 of 2995.4%☆☆☆☆☆
201913.8290 of 2931.0%☆☆☆☆☆
201815.5266 of 2846.3%☆☆☆☆☆

Female

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankTennessee percentileRating
20256.5533 of 5462.4%☆☆☆☆☆
202411.8506 of 5548.7%☆☆☆☆☆
20236.8550 of 5601.8%☆☆☆☆☆
20225.8550 of 5520.4%☆☆☆☆☆
20197.4519 of 5291.9%☆☆☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankTennessee percentileRating
202512.8465 of 4905.1%☆☆☆☆☆
202426.3398 of 51022.0%★☆☆☆☆
202311.8493 of 5144.1%☆☆☆☆☆
202212.4470 of 4955.1%☆☆☆☆☆
20199.5486 of 4900.8%☆☆☆☆☆
201812.7457 of 4815.0%☆☆☆☆☆

Male

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankTennessee percentileRating
20258.4527 of 5504.2%☆☆☆☆☆
202420.4454 of 56018.9%★☆☆☆☆
202310.2523 of 5576.1%☆☆☆☆☆
20227.9526 of 5402.6%☆☆☆☆☆
How student groups rank statewide ? (each group's percentile vs the same group at other schools — higher is better; the +/- beside each compares the group with this school's overall percentile)
Elementary school
African American (2025)11th percentile+6 vs school
Male (2025)8th percentile+3 vs school
Low Socio Economic Status (2025)6th percentile~ school
Female (2025)4th percentile~ school
Middle school
Low Socio Economic Status (2025)5th percentile+4 vs school
African American (2025)5th percentile+3 vs school
Male (2025)4th percentile+3 vs school
Female (2025)2nd percentile~ school
By subject vs Tennessee (2024-2025) ?
English Language Arts13%-26 vs state
Mathematics12%-30 vs state
Science8%-38 vs state
Social Studies7%-43 vs state

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Frequently Asked Questions about Cummings Elementary/Middle

Students who attend Cummings Elementary/Middle usually go on to attend:

High : B. T. Washington High

Cummings Elementary/Middle ranks in the bottom 4.7% of Tennessee elementary schools.

In the 2024-25 school year, 379 students attended Cummings Elementary/Middle.

Students at Cummings Elementary/Middle are 98% African American.


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SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Tennessee Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.





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