Southwind High School

Southwind High School is a large traditional public high school in Memphis, Tennessee, serving 1,675 students in grades 9–12 as part of Memphis-Shelby County Schools. While the district overall ranks in the bottom 3% of Tennessee districts, Southwind has improved notably, moving from the 14th to the 30th percentile in statewide rankings over the past year. The school currently ranks 282nd out of 400 Tennessee high schools. One of Southwind's clearest strengths is its graduation rate of 91.6%, beating both the district average of 84.1% and the state average of 90.5%. Its dropout rate of 6.9% is nearly identical to the state average and less than half the MSCS rate.

Academically, Southwind shows some bright spots. On the English II exam, 46.4% of students scored proficient, the highest among nearby MSCS high schools and well above the district average of 39.5%—beating Germantown High School (42.5%) and Power Center Academy High School (43.7%). Algebra I proficiency of 25.6% also outpaces most local peers, including Germantown (19.7%) and Kirby High School (10.8%). However, US History proficiency sits at just 15.8%, far below the state average of 42.4% and trailing nearly every nearby school. Algebra II is similarly weak at 17.3% proficiency. This creates a disconnect: Southwind graduates students at a high rate, yet many students finish school without reaching full academic proficiency.

Southwind posted notable gains for specific student groups. African American students and low-income students both moved from below-average to above-average subgroup rankings in the most recent year, and English Language Learner students ranked in the 82nd percentile statewide. Chronic absenteeism affects about one in four students—better than the district's 30.2% rate and far better than Wooddale High School (73.1%), though still above the state average of 18.3%. Southwind achieves these results while spending just $12,669 per student, less than most nearby schools including Kirby High School ($15,021) and Ridgeway High School ($14,884). Families comparing local options would likely see Southwind as a relative success story within MSCS, though it remains well behind Houston High School in the separate Germantown Municipal Schools district.