Jo Byrns High School

Jo Byrns High School serves 538 students in grades 6–12 in Cedar Hill, Tennessee, a small rural community within Robertson County Schools. This combined middle/high school structure makes direct comparisons with traditional 9–12 schools imperfect, but the data still tells a clear story: Jo Byrns is a school that excels at keeping students on track to graduate, even though its academic test scores lag behind district and state averages.

The standout strength is student persistence. Jo Byrns posted a 94.4% graduation rate in 2024–25, well above the district average of 85.9% and the state's 90.5%. Its dropout rate of just 1.4% is dramatically better than the district's 11.0% and better than nearby Springfield High School (5.8%) and Greenbrier High School (4.7%). However, academic proficiency tells a different story. Only 20% of students scored proficient in math and 15.9% in ELA, compared to 38.8% and 35.8% for the district and 43% and 40.6% statewide. East Robertson High School, the closest comparable 6–12 school in the same district, posted 30.3% math and 20.7% ELA proficiency, while Innovation Academy of Robertson County reached 64.6% math and 62.4% ELA.

There are some bright spots. Biology I proficiency hit 50% in 2025–26, essentially matching the state average and beating several nearby schools. English II scores also jumped to 56.5%, near the state's 58.1%, though that result followed a much weaker year and may be volatile. Chronic absenteeism has improved from 25.9% in 2020–21 to 16.0%, and per-student spending of $13,630 is higher than every nearby school with available data. The overall picture is a school that excels at keeping students connected and graduating them, but hasn't yet converted that stability into consistent test performance. After a rough 2024–25, the school's state ranking improved from 305th to 244th, suggesting momentum in a positive direction.