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John Early Middle

Public, Magnet Grades 6-8
558th
SchoolDigger Rank ?
of 583 Tennessee Middle Schools
Better than 4% of Tennessee middle schools
Summary

John Early Middle is a public magnet middle school located in Nashville, Tennessee, serving grades 6-8 with a student population of 169. The school is part of the Davidson County school district, which is ranked 122 out of 139 districts in Tennessee and has a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger.

John Early Middle consistently ranks in the bottom 10-20% of Tennessee middle schools, with proficiency rates well below the state and district averages across all subject areas. For example, in the 2024-2025 school year, only 7.2% of students were proficient or better in Math, compared to 42.2% statewide and 31.9% in Davidson County. The school also has extremely high chronic absenteeism rates, ranging from 18.9% to 46.7% in recent years, significantly higher than the state and district averages. Additionally, John Early Middle struggles to serve its student subgroups effectively, ranking in the bottom 10-20% for African American, low-socioeconomic, and female students.

In contrast, other magnet schools in the area, such as Meigs Middle, Head Middle, and Rose Park Middle, consistently rank in the top 20-30% of Tennessee middle schools and have significantly higher proficiency rates across all subject areas. The combination of John Early Middle's low performance, high chronic absenteeism, and significant achievement gaps suggests that the school may be facing challenges in areas such as student engagement, teacher quality, and resource allocation, which the Davidson County district will need to address to improve outcomes for all students.

136
Students ?
10.3
Student/teacher ratio ?
$29,546
Per pupil spending ?
80.1%
Free/discounted lunch ?
 1000 Cass ST
       Nashville, TN  37208

(615) 291-6369

District: Davidson County


Students who attend John Early Middle usually attend:

High:    Pearl-Cohn High

Feeder schools for John Early Middle:

Elementary:    Jones Elementary
    Robert Churchwell Elementary
Racial breakdown:

African American:
75.7%
Hispanic:
13.2%
Two or more races:
5.1%
more
 See top rated Tennessee middle schools

 Compare John Early Middle to nearby middle schools!
At a glance
Ranking trend: Holding steady — 2nd percentile in 2014 → 4th in 2025
Strengths
Small classes — about 10 students per teacher
Worth a look
!Test scores below the Tennessee average (9% vs 45% meeting standards)
!In the lower quartile statewide (4th percentile)
!High chronic absenteeism (42% vs 18% Tennessee)
Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?
This school9%
District avg34%
Tennessee avg45%
558th of 583
Tennessee public middle schools ?
Bottom 4%▲ up 1 pts since 2015
See the entire ranking list of Tennessee Middle Schools →
SchoolDigger rating ?
35th of 37Middle Schools in the Davidson County
122nd of 139Davidson 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

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankTennessee percentileRating
20257.8558 of 5834.3%☆☆☆☆☆
20246.0575 of 5872.0%☆☆☆☆☆
20236.7577 of 5942.9%☆☆☆☆☆
20226.8559 of 5691.8%☆☆☆☆☆
20217.6550 of 5764.5%☆☆☆☆☆
201922.6466 of 57418.8%★☆☆☆☆
201818.1482 of 56314.4%★☆☆☆☆
201715.4340 of 3626.1%☆☆☆☆☆
201510.0475 of 4923.5%☆☆☆☆☆
20145.2473 of 4852.5%☆☆☆☆☆
201311.8457 of 4753.8%☆☆☆☆☆
201218.7414 of 46611.2%★☆☆☆☆
20117.7449 of 4622.8%☆☆☆☆☆
20106.4430 of 4351.1%☆☆☆☆☆

African American

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankTennessee percentileRating
202515.0286 of 3128.3%☆☆☆☆☆
202413.3306 of 3183.8%☆☆☆☆☆
202313.4309 of 3162.2%☆☆☆☆☆
202214.8285 of 2994.7%☆☆☆☆☆
201917.7262 of 29310.6%★☆☆☆☆
201812.8273 of 2843.9%☆☆☆☆☆

Female

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankTennessee percentileRating
20253.6544 of 5460.4%☆☆☆☆☆
20237.2544 of 5602.9%☆☆☆☆☆
20228.0530 of 5524.0%☆☆☆☆☆
201940.9323 of 52938.9%★★☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankTennessee percentileRating
202510.0481 of 4901.8%☆☆☆☆☆
20239.2509 of 5141.0%☆☆☆☆☆
202212.8468 of 4955.5%☆☆☆☆☆
201911.8471 of 4903.9%☆☆☆☆☆
201816.9436 of 4819.4%☆☆☆☆☆

Male

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankTennessee percentileRating
202519.1459 of 55016.5%★☆☆☆☆
202410.1528 of 5605.7%☆☆☆☆☆
20238.9531 of 5574.7%☆☆☆☆☆
20227.9527 of 5402.4%☆☆☆☆☆
202112.8469 of 52911.3%★☆☆☆☆
201913.0477 of 5238.8%☆☆☆☆☆

White

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankTennessee percentileRating
201993.819 of 48496.1%★★★★★
201880.462 of 48187.1%★★★★☆
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)
White (2019)96th percentile+77 vs school
Male (2025)17th percentile+12 vs school
African American (2025)8th percentile+4 vs school
Low Socio Economic Status (2025)2nd percentile~ school
Female (2025)<1st percentile-4 vs school
By subject vs Tennessee (2024-2025) ?
Science10%-36 vs state
Social Studies10%-39 vs state
English Language Arts7%-32 vs state
Mathematics7%-35 vs state

1.0
1 rating · 1 written review
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What people are saying
by a parent
Wednesday, March 3, 2021

Open Quote The teachers are crapy and when u report things to them they do nothing . You end up having to call the school board. The teachers sit on their phones instead of teaching our kids. It's a horrible school. Close Quote





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Frequently Asked Questions about John Early Middle

John Early Middle ranks in the bottom 4.3% of Tennessee middle schools.

In the 2024-25 school year, 136 students attended John Early Middle.

Students who attend John Early Middle usually go on to attend Pearl-Cohn High

Students at John Early Middle are 76% African American, 13% Hispanic, 5% Two or more races, 4% White.


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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.





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