Lowrance Elementary/Middle School

Lowrance Elementary/Middle School is a PK–8 campus in Memphis, TN, serving 787 students as part of Memphis-Shelby County Schools, and it currently ranks in the bottom 12% of Tennessee schools with a 1-star rating. It is the lowest-ranked school in its immediate area — every nearby school outperforms it, including Ross Elementary, which is the next-lowest at the 18th percentile, and Southwind Elementary, which sits just a mile away in the 69th percentile. The school has been stuck in the bottom 7–12% of Tennessee schools since 2020–2021 and has never recovered to its pre-pandemic standing.

Academic proficiency at Lowrance is well below district and state averages in every core subject. Just 16.7% of students are proficient in math and 19.9% in ELA, compared to state averages of 43.0% and 40.6%. The elementary grades begin near district norms — 3rd grade math is at 28.3% — but proficiency collapses by middle school, with 6th grade math at just 6.7% and 7th grade math at 9.5%. Journey East Academy, a nearby K–8 school that spends roughly half as much per student ($7,703 vs. $14,708), beats Lowrance in every tested subject, suggesting these struggles aren't simply a funding issue.

There are genuine bright spots. 8th grade social studies proficiency is 46.2%, nearly matching the state average, 8th grade ELA and 4th grade science both beat district levels, and Algebra I proficiency (38.1%) is well above the school's overall math rate. Hispanic and African American students have shown meaningful improvement in recent years. However, chronic absenteeism has more than doubled since 2020–2021 to 22.2%, and the school's middle-grade collapse remains its most pressing concern. Parents weighing Lowrance should balance its pockets of progress — and its higher-than-average per-student spending — against the persistent gaps in the middle years.