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American Way Middle

Public Grades 6-8

527^th

SchoolDigger Rank ?

of 583 Tennessee Middle Schools

Better than 10% of Tennessee middle schools

Summary

American Way Middle is a public middle school in Memphis, Tennessee, serving 671 students in grades 6-8. The school is part of the Memphis-Shelby County Schools district, which is ranked 135 out of 139 districts in the state and has a 0-star rating from SchoolDigger.

American Way Middle has consistently underperformed compared to the district and state averages in academic subjects like Mathematics, English Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies. For example, in the 2024-2025 school year, only 11.3% of students were proficient or better in Mathematics, compared to 22.6% in the district and 42.2% statewide. The school also struggles with high chronic absenteeism rates, ranging from 18.9% to 37.8% over the past few years. American Way Middle's performance is particularly low for certain student subgroups, such as female students, male students, and students with special needs, ranking in the bottom quartile or bottom third of Tennessee middle schools for these groups.

Nearby schools, such as A. Maceo Walker Middle, Ridgeway Middle, and Power Center Academy Middle, also perform below the state average but generally outperform American Way Middle. For instance, Power Center Academy Middle, a public charter school, has significantly higher proficiency rates in Mathematics (29.9%) and English Language Arts (19.7%) compared to American Way Middle. Addressing the root causes of American Way Middle's challenges, such as student engagement, family support, and school climate, will be crucial in improving the school's overall outcomes.

693

Students ?

16.5

Student/teacher ratio ?

$15,004

Per pupil spending ?

87%

Free/discounted lunch ?

3805 American Way
Memphis, TN 38118-1870

(901) 416-1250

District: Memphis-Shelby County Schools

Students who attend American Way Middle usually attend:

High:

Sheffield High

Feeder schools for American Way Middle:

Elementary:	Getwell Elementary
	Sheffield Elementary

Racial breakdown:

African American:

54.5%

Hispanic:

42.3%

Two or more races:

2.0%

See top rated Tennessee middle schools

Compare American Way Middle to nearby middle schools!

At a glance

▲ Ranking trend: Improving — 1st percentile in 2018 → 10th in 2025

Strengths

✓Ranking is trending up — up 9 percentile points since 2018

Worth a look

!Test scores below the Tennessee average (16% vs 43% meeting standards)

!In the lower quartile statewide (10th percentile)

!Mathematics scores 31 pts below the Tennessee average

Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?

This school16%

District avg25%

Tennessee avg43%

527^th of 583

Tennessee public middle schools ?

Bottom 10%▲ up 8 pts since 2018

From bottom 1% (2018) to bottom 10% (2025)

See the entire ranking list of Tennessee Middle Schools →

★★★★★

SchoolDigger rating ?

21^st of 32Middle Schools in the Memphis-Shelby County Schools

135^th 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)

Middle school ranking

Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Tennessee percentile	Rating
2025	10.4	527 of 583	9.6%	☆☆☆☆☆
2024	10.7	537 of 587	8.5%	☆☆☆☆☆
2023	7.0	574 of 594	3.4%	☆☆☆☆☆
2022	7.4	552 of 569	3.0%	☆☆☆☆☆
2021	5.9	573 of 576	0.5%	☆☆☆☆☆
2019	5.1	571 of 574	0.5%	☆☆☆☆☆
2018	5.1	556 of 563	1.2%	☆☆☆☆☆

African American

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Tennessee percentile	Rating
2025	19.7	266 of 312	14.7%	★☆☆☆☆
2024	23.3	249 of 318	21.7%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	14.7	303 of 316	4.1%	☆☆☆☆☆
2022	16.1	277 of 299	7.4%	☆☆☆☆☆
2019	13.4	291 of 293	0.7%	☆☆☆☆☆
2018	13.9	270 of 284	4.9%	☆☆☆☆☆

English Language Learner

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Tennessee percentile	Rating
2025	34.2	65 of 100	35.0%	★★☆☆☆
2024	28.0	65 of 73	11.0%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	37.9	18 of 32	43.8%	★★☆☆☆

Female

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Tennessee percentile	Rating
2025	9.7	505 of 546	7.5%	☆☆☆☆☆
2024	10.4	518 of 554	6.5%	☆☆☆☆☆
2023	6.6	552 of 560	1.4%	☆☆☆☆☆
2022	7.7	533 of 552	3.4%	☆☆☆☆☆
2021	6.5	537 of 538	0.2%	☆☆☆☆☆
2019	4.5	529 of 529	0.0%	☆☆☆☆☆

Hispanic

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Tennessee percentile	Rating
2025	20.0	247 of 286	13.6%	★☆☆☆☆
2024	16.8	261 of 285	8.4%	☆☆☆☆☆
2023	13.4	273 of 285	4.2%	☆☆☆☆☆
2022	14.0	264 of 275	4.0%	☆☆☆☆☆
2021	9.3	260 of 261	0.4%	☆☆☆☆☆
2019	9.4	228 of 228	0.0%	☆☆☆☆☆
2018	11.1	213 of 219	2.7%	☆☆☆☆☆

Homeless

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Tennessee percentile	Rating
2025	19.8	28 of 31	9.7%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	14.5	25 of 26	3.8%	☆☆☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Tennessee percentile	Rating
2025	21.3	411 of 490	16.1%	★☆☆☆☆
2024	19.0	447 of 510	12.4%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	11.6	495 of 514	3.7%	☆☆☆☆☆
2022	11.9	474 of 495	4.2%	☆☆☆☆☆
2021	8.4	483 of 483	0.0%	☆☆☆☆☆
2019	8.8	487 of 490	0.6%	☆☆☆☆☆
2018	10.1	471 of 481	2.1%	☆☆☆☆☆

Male

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Tennessee percentile	Rating
2025	11.9	503 of 550	8.5%	☆☆☆☆☆
2024	12.5	500 of 560	10.7%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	8.0	543 of 557	2.5%	☆☆☆☆☆
2022	8.1	525 of 540	2.8%	☆☆☆☆☆
2021	5.2	529 of 529	0.0%	☆☆☆☆☆
2019	6.6	520 of 523	0.6%	☆☆☆☆☆

Special Education

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Tennessee percentile	Rating
2024	18.5	284 of 299	5.0%	☆☆☆☆☆
2022	17.7	258 of 260	0.8%	☆☆☆☆☆

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)

Middle school

English Language Learner (2025)35th percentile+25 vs school

Low Socio Economic Status (2025)16th percentile+7 vs school

African American (2025)15th percentile+5 vs school

Hispanic (2025)14th percentile+4 vs school

Homeless (2025)10th percentile~ school

Male (2025)9th percentile~ school

Female (2025)8th percentile~ school

Special Education (2024)5th percentile-4 vs school

By subject vs Tennessee (2024-2025) ?

Science22%-24 vs state

Social Studies20%-29 vs state

English Language Arts12%-27 vs state

Mathematics11%-31 vs state

★

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Schools Near American Way Middle

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				TNReady Mathematics (2025)				TNReady English Language Arts (2025)				TNReady Algebra I (2025)		TNReady Science (2025)				TNReady Social Studies (2025)				Per Pupil Expenditures (2025)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	Rank Change from Previous Year	TNReady Mathematics 6th Grade	TNReady Mathematics 7th Grade	TNReady Mathematics 8th Grade	TNReady Mathematics All Grades	TNReady English Language Arts 6th Grade	TNReady English Language Arts 7th Grade	TNReady English Language Arts 8th Grade	TNReady English Language Arts All Grades	TNReady Algebra I 8th Grade	TNReady Algebra I All Grades	TNReady Science 6th Grade	TNReady Science 7th Grade	TNReady Science 8th Grade	TNReady Science All Grades	TNReady Social Studies 6th Grade	TNReady Social Studies 7th Grade	TNReady Social Studies 8th Grade	TNReady Social Studies All Grades	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
American Way Middle	Public	6-8	3805 American Way	Memphis	38118	Shelby County	Memphis-Shelby County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(901) 416-1250	671	41	16.5		2 (0.3%)	416 (62.0%)	234 (34.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (2.8%)	10.4	527^th of 583 public middle schools	9.6%		10.7	537^th of 587 public middle schools	8.5%	10	11.7	12.5	9.6	11.3	16.2	9.7	8.1	11.5			22.9	25.0	19.0	22.3	17.3	23.9	18.5	19.8	$15,004	$2,216	$11,901
Sherwood Middle	Public	6-8	3480 Rhodes Ave	Memphis	38111	Shelby County	Memphis-Shelby County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(901) 416-4870	670	46	14.5		4 (0.6%)	468 (69.9%)	185 (27.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (1.8%)	5	576^th of 583 public middle schools	1.2%		4.2	587^th of 587 public middle schools	0.0%	11			7.7								6.2	17.0	8.6	10.6	5.3	20.4	10.7	12.0	$14,013	$1,948	$11,204
Colonial Middle	Public, Magnet	6-8	1370 Colonial RD	Memphis	38117	Shelby County	Memphis-Shelby County Schools	No	Yes	No	Yes	(901) 416-8980	1,088	56	19.6		31 (2.8%)	584 (53.7%)	423 (38.9%)	5 (0.5%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	44 (4.0%)	30.2	419^th of 583 public middle schools	28.1%		24.5	450^th of 587 public middle schools	23.3%	31	21.4	20.8	24.8	22.3	36.5	17.6	17.1	23.2	47.8	47.8	37.5	38.0	22.5	32.7	38.1	42.2	35.9	38.8	$13,858	$1,407	$11,661
Oakhaven Middle	Public	6-8	3125 Ladbrook Rd	Memphis	38108	Shelby County	Memphis-Shelby County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(901) 416-2380	270	16	17.4		2 (0.7%)	213 (78.9%)	47 (17.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (3.0%)	9.8	536^th of 583 public middle schools	8.1%		4.7	585^th of 587 public middle schools	0.3%	49	6.2	9.4	20.0	11.7	13.4	5.3		7.6			19.8	20.6	21.3	20.6	19.4	19.8	19.8	19.7	$12,947	$1,579	$11,001
Wooddale Middle School	Public, Charter	6-8	3467 Castleman ST	Memphis	38118	Shelby County	Achievement School District	Yes	No	No	Yes	(901) 730-4086	552	28	20.0		7 (1.3%)	311 (56.3%)	226 (40.9%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (1.3%)	8.6	551^st of 583 public middle schools	5.5%		12.2	522^nd of 587 public middle schools	11.1%	29	6.6	7.6	10.6	8.3	11.8	6.3	9.9	9.3			17.0	14.3	12.8	14.7	29.5	20.5	15.7	21.9	$18,848	$6,996	$11,852
University Middle School	Public	6-8	330 Fogelman DR	Memphis	38152	Shelby County	University Schools	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(901) 678-4200	0																		(n/a)																			$13,446	$219	$13,068
Power Center Academy Middle	Public, Charter	6-8	5449 Winchester RD	Memphis	38115	Shelby County	Memphis-Shelby County Schools	Yes	No	No	Yes	(901) 333-6874	449	21	21.0		1 (0.2%)	288 (64.1%)	157 (35.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.7%)	27.5	440^th of 583 public middle schools	24.5%		22.6	458^th of 587 public middle schools	22.0%	18	29.7	19.5	40.8	29.9	21.4	18.1	19.6	19.7			32.4	20.9	19.5	24.2	43.4	17.6	41.2	34.0	$14,387	$1,455	$12,565
Maxine Smith STEAM Academy	Public	6-8	750 E Parkway S	Memphis	38104	Shelby County	Memphis-Shelby County Schools	No	No	No	No	(901) 416-4536	397	24	16.8		120 (30.2%)	215 (54.2%)	33 (8.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (7.3%)	98.8	4^th of 583 public middle schools	99.3%		98.2	9^th of 587 public middle schools	98.5%	5	78.4	70.2	91.0	78.2	79.1	84.1	74.5	79.3			82.4	84.1	85.4	83.9	79.1	93.1	92.0	87.8	$12,546	$828	$11,351
Veritas College Preparatory	Public, Charter	6-8	1500 Dunn AVE	Memphis	38106	Shelby County	Memphis-Shelby County Schools	Yes	No	No	Yes	(901) 526-1900	135	11	12.2		0 (0.0%)	125 (92.6%)	5 (3.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (3.0%)	6.3	566^th of 583 public middle schools	2.9%		9	558^th of 587 public middle schools	4.9%	8	6.7	6.4	9.5	7.5	13.3	6.4	7.1	9.0			6.7	14.9	14.3	11.9	11.1	21.3	16.7	16.4	$19,447	$1,512	$17,569
A. Maceo Walker Middle	Public	6-8	1900 East Raines RD	Memphis	38116	Shelby County	Memphis-Shelby County Schools	No	No	No	Yes	(901) 416-1030	637	35	18.2		5 (0.8%)	577 (90.6%)	28 (4.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	27 (4.2%)	13	515^th of 583 public middle schools	11.7%		10.2	544^th of 587 public middle schools	7.3%	29	7.1	23.9	16.8	15.9	11.5	10.8	10.3	10.9			17.6	8.5	23.4	16.6	23.1	27.3	29.5	26.6	$14,027	$1,955	$11,193

Frequently Asked Questions about American Way Middle

What is the racial makeup of American Way Middle?

Students at American Way Middle are 55% African American, 42% Hispanic, 2% Two or more races, 1% White.

What high school do graduates of American Way Middle attend?

Students who attend American Way Middle usually go on to attend Sheffield High

How many students attend American Way Middle?

In the 2024-25 school year, 693 students attended American Way Middle.

What district is American Way Middle in?

Memphis-Shelby County Schools

Is American Way Middle a good school?

American Way Middle ranks in the bottom 9.6% of Tennessee middle schools.

Rate American Way Middle!

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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.