Summary
Eakin Elementary School is a PK-5 school in Shelbyville, Tennessee, serving 399 students as part of Bedford County Schools. The school currently holds a 1-star state rating and ranks in the 13th percentile of Tennessee elementary schools, placing it well below the state average in academic achievement.
Academic proficiency at Eakin trails both the district and state significantly. In 2025-26, only 22.5% of students scored proficient in math, 27.2% in English language arts, and 20.2% in science, compared to state averages of 43.0%, 40.6%, and 46.9% respectively. The most striking figure is 3rd-grade math, where just 5.5% of students met state standards. Attendance, however, is not a major issue — Eakin's chronic absenteeism rate of 11.8% is lower than the district rate of 17.9% and the state rate of 18.3%. Notably, Eakin spends more per student ($14,844) than any nearby school, including Thomas Magnet School, which spends roughly $11,400 per student yet outperforms Eakin by more than 60 percentage points in math and science.
There are some encouraging signs. Eakin has climbed from 0-star ratings in prior years to its current 1-star status, with math proficiency nearly doubling since 2022-23. African American students at Eakin have performed at or above the statewide median for that subgroup, and low-income students also outperform the school's overall ranking. That said, the school's gains appear fragile — ELA and science proficiency slipped in 2025-26 after strong gains the year before. Nearby same-district schools like Cascade Elementary and Community Elementary perform well above Eakin, proving that strong outcomes are possible within the same district. As Eakin works to stabilize its recent progress, the clearest priorities are addressing the 3rd-grade math crisis, improving consistency across grade levels, and figuring out why its higher-than-average spending is not producing stronger results.
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