Soldiers Memorial Middle School

Soldiers Memorial Middle School is a public middle school in Tazewell, Tennessee, that serves about 360 students in grades 5 through 8 and is part of Claiborne County Schools. The school currently holds a 1-star rating and ranks 525th out of 594 middle schools statewide, putting it in the bottom 12 percent of Tennessee schools.

Test proficiency is well below district and state averages across every core subject. In the most recent school year, only 16.4% of students were proficient in math, 19.4% in English language arts, 26.7% in science, and 17.6% in social studies, compared to state averages of 43%, 40.6%, 46.9%, and 51.4%. The gap with nearby H.Y. Livesay Middle School — a same-district school just a few miles away — is especially large: H.Y. Livesay students scored 39.7% proficient in math and 61.4% in social studies, and that school ranks 140th in the state. Rutledge Middle School (ranked 177th) and H Maynard Middle School (ranked 410th) also outperform Soldiers Memorial in every tested subject.

Chronic absenteeism is a serious concern, with 25.5% of students chronically absent — notably higher than H.Y. Livesay's 18.4% and Rutledge's 14.2%. Another troubling trend is that 5th graders start near district averages in math and reading, but by 8th grade they fall more than 20 points behind their peers. The school spends about $13,107 per student, more than the higher-performing schools nearby, which shows that funding alone doesn't explain the results. These patterns suggest that improving attendance and providing extra academic support could make a meaningful difference for students at Soldiers Memorial.