Summary:
The two middle schools in ZIP code 37115 serve the Madison/Nashville area and offer very different educational experiences: Madison Middle School is a traditional public school serving grades 6–8 with 360 students, while LEAD Neely's Bend School is a public charter school serving grades 5–8 with 291 students, both operating within districts ranked near the bottom of Tennessee.
LEAD Neely's Bend School is the clear standout in this area, ranking 437th out of 594 Tennessee middle schools (26th percentile) compared to Madison Middle School's 575th-place ranking (3rd percentile). LEAD dramatically outperforms Madison in every subject: mathematics proficiency is 32.5% versus 6.5%, social studies is 41.8% versus 15.3%, science is 27.2% versus 12.4%, and English language arts is 20.9% versus 9.9%. Chronic absenteeism tells a similar story, with only 11.6% of LEAD students chronically absent versus 31.6% at Madison—a rate well above the state average of 18.3%. LEAD also spends more per student ($20,921 versus $18,514), though the data cannot prove a direct causal link.
Trends show LEAD improving while Madison declines. From 2024–2025 to 2025–2026, LEAD gained 7.1 points in math, 5.9 in ELA, 4.1 in science, and 11.1 in social studies, while Madison dropped 5.2 points in math and 1.3 in ELA. LEAD's 8th grade math proficiency (44.4%) now exceeds the state average, but its upper-grade literacy remains a challenge. Madison has no grade-level proficiency above 21.1%, with 6th grade math at just 6.4%. Although both authorizing districts—Metro Nashville Public Schools and the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission—rank in the bottom 11th percentile of districts, school-level outcomes vary widely, suggesting that attendance and school-specific practices play a significant role in student success.
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