Best Elementary Schools in Zip Code 37210

Zip code 37210 in Nashville, TN is home to John B. Whitsitt Elementary School and Napier Elementary School, both part of Metro Nashville Public Schools and serving grades PK–5, yet the two schools present vastly different academic and attendance profiles. Whitsitt is the clear standout in the area, especially in mathematics, where 62.6% of students are proficient compared to the state average of 43.0% and the district average of 32.4%. Its 4th-grade math proficiency reaches 70.9%, the highest grade-level result in the zip code. Whitsitt also has strong attendance, with a chronic absenteeism rate of just 14.6%, well below the district's 23.3% and the state's 18.3%. However, Whitsitt's English language arts (33.5%) and science (33.5%) proficiency rates remain below state averages, and its state ranking has slipped from the 59th percentile in 2023–2024 to the 46th percentile in 2025–2026.

In direct contrast, Napier Elementary is among the lowest-performing schools in Tennessee, ranking 1,015th out of 1,019 schools with a 0-star rating. Its math proficiency is just 6.0%, ELA is 8.5%, and science is 8.6% — all dramatically below district and state levels. Napier's chronic absenteeism rate is a staggering 49.2%, meaning nearly half of its students are chronically absent, more than double the district rate and nearly triple the state rate. The school spends $22,459 per student, about 31% more than Whitsitt's $17,179, yet achieves far lower results. Napier has ranked in the bottom 1% of Tennessee elementary schools for three consecutive years, and its math and ELA scores continued to decline in the most recent school year.

The achievement gap between these two nearby schools is enormous — a 56.6 percentage-point difference in math proficiency — and highlights how school-level factors such as attendance and resource allocation can drive outcomes even within the same district. Whitsitt shows what is possible with solid attendance and a strong math focus, but its weak 5th-grade ELA proficiency (22.2%) indicates a need for upper-elementary literacy support. Napier's early science gains in 3rd grade (15.0%) fade by 4th and 5th grade (5.3%), and the absence of reported 5th-grade math and ELA data limits a complete assessment. For parents in zip code 37210, these two schools represent opposite ends of Tennessee's school performance spectrum, making school choice critically important.