Frank Hughes School

Frank Hughes School is an alternative school in Clifton, Tennessee, serving 276 students from Pre-K through 12th grade with a small, supportive learning environment and an impressive student-teacher ratio of about 9 to 1. Part of Wayne County Schools, the school operates within a district that ranks in the bottom quarter of Tennessee districts, making its academic results particularly interesting for parents considering the school.

One of the most striking findings is in mathematics. Frank Hughes posted an all-grades math proficiency rate of 50.5% in 2025-26—well above Wayne County Schools' 25.5% and even above the state's 43.0%. Third-grade math really stands out, with 92.3% of students proficient compared to just 28.4% in the district. English language arts tells a more uneven story: grades 3 and 7 show solid results, but 8th-grade ELA proficiency sits at just 8.0%. In high school, English II and Biology I are near or above state averages, while Algebra I (15.8%) and Geometry (12.0%) remain clear weaknesses. The school has also dramatically improved attendance, cutting chronic absenteeism from 33.6% in 2021-22 to 14.3% in 2024-25—now below the state average.

The graduation rate of 85.2% in 2023-24, while above the district's 80.3%, still lags Tennessee's 89.2%, and dropout rates have been volatile. Compared to nearby Perry County Virtual School, the other alternative school in the area, Frank Hughes is outperforming it in nearly every subject—50.5% math proficiency versus 10.0% in Algebra I, and 48.0% Biology I proficiency versus 6.7%—while spending about twice as much per student. For parents, this is a school with genuine strengths in elementary math and certain high school subjects, but also areas—particularly advanced math and upper-middle-grade reading—that deserve close attention.