Virtual Academy of Maury County

Virtual Academy of Maury County (VAMC) is a tiny virtual public school in Columbia, Tennessee, serving just 57 students in grades 7–12 as part of Maury County Schools. It is the smallest school in this comparison group, and its overall state ranking sits at the 15th percentile (1 star) for 2025-2026, down from the 30th percentile two years earlier. Because the student body is so small, a single cohort can dramatically swing the school's metrics from year to year, making the data volatile and sometimes misleading.

Academically, VAMC shows a striking split. Eighth graders are a genuine bright spot: math proficiency (33.3%) beats the district average (29.7%), and science (41.7%) and social studies (41.7%) are well above district benchmarks (31.5% and 37.7%, respectively). High school courses are another story entirely. Algebra II proficiency is just 15.8% — less than half the state rate of 37.3% — while Geometry (16.7%) and US History (20%) similarly lag far behind state averages. The lone high school standout is English II, where VAMC's 45.5% proficiency rate actually tops both Columbia Central High School (39.9%) and Mt Pleasant High School (39.5%).

The most serious concerns are engagement and completion. VAMC's chronic absenteeism rate jumped to 27.0% in 2024-2025, far above the district (17.8%) and state (18.3%) — and notably higher than every traditional school in the area except Northfield Academy (37.9%), which shares its campus on Bridge Street. The dropout rate of 11.5% is nearly double the state rate of 6.7%, and the graduation rate of 88.5%, while above the district average, has swung wildly from 61.5% to 84.6% over the past two years. At the same time, per-student spending has more than doubled in three years to $12,465 — yet outcomes have not improved accordingly. VAMC offers flexibility and some genuine middle-school strengths, but for high school students, the data suggests a high-risk option that requires strong self-discipline and family support to succeed.