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Northwest Middle School

Public Grades 6-8

496^th

SchoolDigger Rank ?

of 583 Tennessee Middle Schools

Better than 15% of Tennessee middle schools

Summary

Northwest Middle School is a public middle school in Knoxville, Tennessee, serving 808 students in grades 6-8. The school is part of the Knox County school district, which is ranked 77 out of 139 districts in the state and has a 2-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Northwest Middle School has consistently ranked in the bottom half of Tennessee middle schools over the past several years, with a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger. The school significantly underperforms the Knox County and Tennessee averages across all subject areas and grade levels on the TNReady assessments. For example, in the 2024-2025 school year, the school's proficiency rates were 16% in mathematics, 14.4% in English language arts, 25.5% in science, and 26.4% in social studies, compared to the county and state averages ranging from 38.9% to 55.4%.

Northwest Middle School's academic performance lags significantly behind most of the nearby middle schools in the Knox County district, such as West Valley Middle School, Cedar Bluff Middle School, and Powell Middle School, which generally outperform Northwest Middle School across all subject areas and grade levels. Addressing the school's challenges will require a comprehensive, data-driven approach to improve student outcomes and provide a high-quality education for all learners.

798

Students ?

12.5

Student/teacher ratio ?

$15,150

Per pupil spending ?

63.9%

Free/discounted lunch ?

5301 Pleasant Ridge RD
Knoxville, TN 37912

(865) 594-1345

District: Knox County

Feeder schools for Northwest Middle School:

Elementary:	Lonsdale Elementary
	Norwood Elementary
	Pleasant Ridge Elementary
	Pond Gap Elementary
	More...
	West Haven Elementary

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:

41.4%

White:

29.2%

African American:

21.9%

See top rated Tennessee middle schools

Compare Northwest Middle School to nearby middle schools!

At a glance

▬ Ranking trend: Holding steady — 13th percentile in 2014 → 15th in 2025

Worth a look

!Test scores below the Tennessee average (21% vs 43% meeting standards)

!In the lower quartile statewide (15th percentile)

!High chronic absenteeism (26% vs 18% Tennessee)

Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?

This school21%

District avg46%

Tennessee avg43%

496^th of 583

Tennessee public middle schools ?

Bottom 15%▼ down 2 pts since 2015

See the entire ranking list of Tennessee Middle Schools →

★★★★★

SchoolDigger rating ?

15^th of 16Middle Schools in the Knox County

77^th of 139Knox County 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)

Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Tennessee percentile	Rating
2025	16.1	496 of 583	14.9%	★☆☆☆☆
2024	12.8	517 of 587	11.9%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	13.1	524 of 594	11.8%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	16.2	483 of 569	15.1%	★☆☆☆☆
2021	18.6	465 of 576	19.3%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	17.0	494 of 574	13.9%	★☆☆☆☆
2018	26.3	439 of 563	22.0%	★☆☆☆☆
2017	21.2	322 of 362	11.0%	★☆☆☆☆
2015	28.9	409 of 492	16.9%	★☆☆☆☆
2014	22.2	424 of 485	12.6%	★☆☆☆☆
2013	28.0	418 of 475	12.0%	★☆☆☆☆
2012	14.0	428 of 466	8.2%	☆☆☆☆☆
2011	18.3	409 of 462	11.5%	★☆☆☆☆
2010	18.4	388 of 435	10.8%	★☆☆☆☆

African American

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Tennessee percentile	Rating
2025	24.4	241 of 312	22.8%	★☆☆☆☆
2024	16.7	290 of 318	8.8%	☆☆☆☆☆
2023	18.6	273 of 316	13.6%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	18.5	258 of 299	13.7%	★☆☆☆☆
2021	31.0	169 of 277	39.0%	★★☆☆☆
2019	18.8	257 of 293	12.3%	★☆☆☆☆
2018	30.8	193 of 284	32.0%	★★☆☆☆

English Language Learner

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Tennessee percentile	Rating
2025	26.3	86 of 100	14.0%	★☆☆☆☆

Female

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Tennessee percentile	Rating
2025	15.0	470 of 546	13.9%	★☆☆☆☆
2024	11.4	509 of 554	8.1%	☆☆☆☆☆
2023	16.2	478 of 560	14.6%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	19.5	453 of 552	17.9%	★☆☆☆☆
2021	19.7	437 of 538	18.8%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	15.3	466 of 529	11.9%	★☆☆☆☆

Hispanic

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Tennessee percentile	Rating
2025	17.9	254 of 286	11.2%	★☆☆☆☆
2024	15.6	266 of 285	6.7%	☆☆☆☆☆
2023	16.1	264 of 285	7.4%	☆☆☆☆☆
2022	23.5	226 of 275	17.8%	★☆☆☆☆
2021	21.6	224 of 261	14.2%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	17.2	213 of 228	6.6%	☆☆☆☆☆
2018	30.6	160 of 219	26.9%	★☆☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Tennessee percentile	Rating
2025	20.0	422 of 490	13.9%	★☆☆☆☆
2024	18.6	452 of 510	11.4%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	23.8	418 of 514	18.7%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	29.4	355 of 495	28.3%	★☆☆☆☆
2021	28.0	356 of 483	26.3%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	18.0	435 of 490	11.2%	★☆☆☆☆
2018	31.1	355 of 481	26.2%	★☆☆☆☆

Male

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Tennessee percentile	Rating
2025	17.6	469 of 550	14.7%	★☆☆☆☆
2024	14.6	489 of 560	12.7%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	10.3	522 of 557	6.3%	☆☆☆☆☆
2022	13.5	479 of 540	11.3%	★☆☆☆☆
2021	19.9	427 of 529	19.3%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	18.6	446 of 523	14.7%	★☆☆☆☆

Special Education

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Tennessee percentile	Rating
2025	22.0	291 of 332	12.3%	★☆☆☆☆
2024	29.4	223 of 299	25.4%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	26.5	220 of 260	15.4%	★☆☆☆☆
2021	42.5	106 of 238	55.5%	★★★☆☆
2019	20.8	212 of 222	4.5%	☆☆☆☆☆
2018	26.8	227 of 279	18.6%	★☆☆☆☆

White

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	Tennessee percentile	Rating
2025	18.5	435 of 492	11.6%	★☆☆☆☆
2024	19.1	444 of 504	11.9%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	16.0	455 of 503	9.5%	☆☆☆☆☆
2022	17.1	451 of 500	9.8%	☆☆☆☆☆
2021	21.0	423 of 496	14.7%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	21.5	432 of 484	10.7%	★☆☆☆☆
2018	32.1	362 of 481	24.7%	★☆☆☆☆

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)

African American (2025)23rd percentile+8 vs school

Male (2025)15th percentile~ school

English Language Learner (2025)14th percentile~ school

Female (2025)14th percentile~ school

Low Socio Economic Status (2025)14th percentile~ school

Special Education (2025)12th percentile-3 vs school

White (2025)12th percentile-3 vs school

Hispanic (2025)11th percentile-4 vs school

By subject vs Tennessee (2024-2025) ?

Algebra I67%+37 vs state

Social Studies26%-23 vs state

Science26%-21 vs state

Mathematics16%-26 vs state

English Language Arts14%-25 vs state

4.5

2 ratings · 2 written reviews

5★1

4★1

3★0

2★0

1★0

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What people are saying

by a parent
Sunday, April 28, 2019

Their Principal is in his second year there, and is making huge strides! He is helping bring so much back into the school, so that the kids can be involved in things like going to Competitions, Inviting and working with Planet Fitness to remodel an area in their gym for teens to come work out after school. I'm so thankful that I kept my son in our district and chose to see what would happen when he went to 6th grade based on his experience, and he loves the place. Only thing he would change is all of the rap music that gets played so much. He says there are a few rowdy kids, but I think they are in every school. It helps with the teamwork and effort Mr Baldwin and the grade level principals as well as the rest of the teachers and staff put in to make sure they are in a welcoming, encouraging and challenging environment. Close Quote

by a citizen
Monday, December 24, 2018

a family member went to northwest and he was in ''boys and girls club'' and when I came there I was warmly welcome the only reason i'm going there going there is because of there ''boys and girls club'' Close Quote

Schools Near Northwest Middle School

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 English 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 9th Grade	TNReady Algebra I All Grades	TNReady English I 9th Grade	TNReady English 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
Northwest Middle School	Public	6-8	5301 Pleasant Ridge RD	Knoxville	37912	Knox County	Knox County	No	No	No	Yes	(865) 594-1345	808	64	12.5		221 (27.4%)	177 (21.9%)	333 (41.2%)	2 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.2%)	72 (8.9%)	16.1	496^th of 583 public middle schools	14.9%		12.8	517^th of 587 public middle schools	11.9%	21	20.6	17.2	9.4	16.0	18.9	13.8	10.6	14.4	66.7		66.7			35.0	26.6	13.2	25.5	28.0	29.1	21.7	26.4	$15,150	$1,988	$12,439
Bearden Middle School	Public	6-8	1000 Francis RD	Knoxville	37909	Knox County	Knox County	No	No	No	No	(865) 539-7839	1,243	72	17.1		755 (60.7%)	203 (16.3%)	198 (15.9%)	18 (1.4%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.2%)	66 (5.3%)	65.6	171^st of 583 public middle schools	70.7%		67.4	153^rd of 587 public middle schools	73.9%	18	42.5	43.2	21.3	37.1	49.3	43.6	39.2	44.0	79.8		81.0			52.5	48.9	31.1	45.4	53.4	61.5	53.9	56.5	$12,022	$833	$10,711
Powell Middle School	Public	6-8	3329 West Emory RD	Powell	37849	Knox County	Knox County	No	No	No	No	(865) 938-9008	797	53	15.1		638 (80.1%)	31 (3.9%)	90 (11.3%)	2 (0.3%)	3 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	33 (4.1%)	63.8	183^rd of 583 public middle schools	68.6%		63.4	181^st of 587 public middle schools	69.2%	2	44.6	40.2	34.5	40.3	44.6	32.5	32.4	36.8	93.6		93.6			52.2	59.1	39.1	51.0	55.8	52.6	50.4	53.0	$12,502	$833	$11,044
Tennessee Virtual Junior High School	Public, Virtual	7-9	1924 Dutch Valley DR	Knoxville	37918	Knox County	Union County	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(865) 992-9026	914	41	22.5		512 (56.0%)	252 (27.6%)	58 (6.3%)	11 (1.2%)	5 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	76 (8.3%)	22	464^th of 583 public middle schools	20.4%		16.9	490^th of 587 public middle schools	16.5%	26		17.5	10.9	14.2		23.6	18.5	21.0		10.1	10.1	23.9	23.9		40.3	22.8	31.4		33.0	22.4	27.6	$5,608	$151	$5,446
Knoxville Preparatory	Public, Charter	6	967 Irwin ST	Knoxville	37917	Knox County	Knox County	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(865) 394-8989	0																		(n/a)																						$30,780	$4,548	$25,319
Whittle Springs Middle School	Public	6-8	2700 White Oak LN	Knoxville	37917	Knox County	Knox County	No	No	No	Yes	(865) 594-4474	467	38	12.2		147 (31.5%)	92 (19.7%)	190 (40.7%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	37 (7.9%)	24.8	455^th of 583 public middle schools	22.0%		17.6	487^th of 587 public middle schools	17.0%	32	29.3	9.6	13.8	16.7	23.6	19.8	12.1	18.5						32.2	46.7	23.1	35.2	36.6	34.1	29.8	33.5	$16,459	$1,952	$13,660
Gresham Middle School	Public	6-8	500 Gresham RD	Knoxville	37918	Knox County	Knox County	No	No	No	No	(865) 689-1430	801	48	16.6		463 (57.8%)	141 (17.6%)	121 (15.1%)	6 (0.7%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	69 (8.6%)	50.8	268^th of 583 public middle schools	54.0%		47.1	295^th of 587 public middle schools	49.7%	27	42.0	31.0	16.2	30.4	43.1	33.2	26.1	34.1						54.9	40.1	24.8	40.7	52.0	55.6	42.9	50.2	$12,673	$1,164	$10,905
Vine Middle/Magnet	Public, Magnet	6-8	1807 Martin Luther King Jr AVE	Knoxville	37915	Knox County	Knox County	No	Yes	No	Yes	(865) 594-4461	393	35	11.3		61 (15.5%)	234 (59.5%)	68 (17.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.5%)	28 (7.1%)	7.6	562^nd of 583 public middle schools	3.6%		7.6	567^th of 587 public middle schools	3.4%	5	11.4	11.8		9.0	11.4	14.2	7.5	10.9	13.3		18.8			13.5	21.0	8.5	14.5	15.1	18.6	11.5	15.0	$19,838	$2,151	$16,777
Karns Middle School	Public	6-8	2925 Gray Hendrix RD	Knoxville	37931	Knox County	Knox County	No	No	No	No	(865) 539-7732	957	61	15.6		661 (69.1%)	85 (8.9%)	126 (13.2%)	9 (0.9%)	1 (0.1%)	3 (0.3%)	72 (7.5%)	52.6	251^st of 583 public middle schools	56.9%		55.2	234^th of 587 public middle schools	60.1%	17	40.1	34.5	22.1	32.5	38.0	25.1	27.5	30.1	52.2		53.2			47.3	46.6	27.5	40.8	53.8	64.7	56.0	58.2	$12,591	$831	$11,230
Cedar Bluff Middle School	Public	6-8	707 North Cedar Bluff RD	Knoxville	37923	Knox County	Knox County	No	No	No	No	(865) 539-7891	547	33	16.8		315 (57.6%)	58 (10.6%)	112 (20.5%)	8 (1.5%)	1 (0.2%)	5 (0.9%)	48 (8.8%)	53.6	245^th of 583 public middle schools	58.0%		59.6	210^th of 587 public middle schools	64.2%	35	38.1	32.9	19.4	31.1	37.8	31.0	34.7	34.6	74.5		74.5			47.1	50.9	25.7	42.3	39.4	59.0	59.5	52.5	$12,523	$792	$10,984

Frequently Asked Questions about Northwest Middle School

How many students attend Northwest Middle School?

In the 2024-25 school year, 798 students attended Northwest Middle School.

What district is Northwest Middle School in?

Knox County

Is Northwest Middle School a good school?

Northwest Middle School ranks in the bottom 14.9% of Tennessee middle schools.

What is the racial makeup of Northwest Middle School?

Students at Northwest Middle School are 41% Hispanic, 29% White, 22% African American, 7% Two or more races.

Rate Northwest Middle School!

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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.