Lincoln Central Virtual Academy

Lincoln Central Virtual Academy is a small alternative virtual school in Fayetteville, TN, serving 41 students in grades K-12 as part of Lincoln County Schools. With student-teacher ratios of just 5.5–5.9 in recent years, the school offers an extremely personalized learning environment. It shares a campus area with Lincoln Central Academy, another alternative school in the same district, and is about 18.5 miles from Huntland School, a much larger alternative school in Franklin County enrolling 631 students.

Despite being a virtual school, Lincoln Central Virtual Academy keeps chronic absenteeism remarkably low—11.9% in 2024-2025, compared to 17.0% for Lincoln County Schools and 18.3% statewide. Its graduation rate reached 92.9% in 2022-2023, above both the district (90.6%) and state (86.5%) averages. However, academic proficiency on 2025-2026 TNReady assessments trails district and state averages in nearly every subject: math proficiency was 25% versus 49.3% district and 43% state; ELA was 16.7% versus 43.1% district and 40.6% state. The school's most recently reported dropout rate of 8.3% (2021-2022) was higher than the district's 2.3%, indicating a vulnerable student population.

The school reports an extraordinary $76,185 per-student spending for 2024-2025, far exceeding Huntland School's $12,637 and Lincoln Central Academy's $18,335, though this figure is likely inflated by the tiny 41-student enrollment and was just $4,464 the prior year. While the school's test scores are below those at Huntland School—which posted 39.8% ELA proficiency and 48.3% science proficiency—Lincoln Central Virtual Academy belongs to a much stronger district overall, with Lincoln County Schools ranked 36th out of 141 Tennessee districts and earning a 4-star rating. The combination of low absenteeism, above-state graduation rates, and significantly below-average test scores suggests this school serves as an alternative or credit-recovery pathway for at-risk students, making direct comparisons to traditional schools imperfect.