Summary:
Zip code 37030 contains exactly one public high school, Smith County High School in Carthage, TN, serving grades 9 through 12 with 476 students in the Smith County Schools district. Since there are no other high schools nearby in this zip code, this analysis focuses on how this one school compares to its district and state benchmarks.
Smith County High School shows clear academic strengths in science and history, especially in Biology I, where 58.9% of students scored proficient or better in 2025–2026 compared to 49.8% statewide. Most notably, 10th-grade Biology I proficiency reached 76.9%, a remarkable 35.6-point gap above the state. U.S. History also improved dramatically, jumping from 35.9% to 55.2% in one year, now outperforming the state by 12.8 points. Algebra II improved by 19.2 points, and among 11th graders, proficiency in that subject actually exceeds the state average. English II is also a bright spot at 64.3%. The school earned 3 stars in its current state ranking, placing 121st out of 400 schools (70th percentile), a rebound from 153rd the prior year and approaching its 4-star performance from two years ago.
However, there are areas of concern. The graduation rate of 85.3% is well below both the district (91.3%) and state (90.5%), even though the dropout rate is just 1.1% compared to 6.7% statewide, suggesting students stay enrolled but may need more than four years to graduate. Chronic absenteeism at 12.3% is better than the state's 18.3% but worse than the district's 10.2%. Academically, the school trails the state in Algebra I, Geometry, and English I, indicating uneven performance across departments. Overall, Smith County High School sits essentially at the statewide average across core subjects, with impressive science and history programs but clear opportunities for growth in foundational math and 9th-grade English.
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