Best High Schools in Zip Code 37211

Zip code 37211 in Nashville, TN is served by three very different high schools within the Metro Nashville Public Schools district, a district that ranks 126th out of 141 in Tennessee. Valor Flagship Academy School (grades 5-12) and LEAD Southeast School (grades 5-12) both include middle-grade students in their reported scores, while Glencliff High School is the only traditional 9-12 high school in the area.

The schools sit at nearly opposite ends of the statewide performance spectrum. Valor is the clear standout, ranking 50th of 400 high schools (88th percentile) with elite test scores, a 97.6% graduation rate, and a minuscule 1.4% dropout rate. Glencliff represents a severe crisis: it ranks 395th of 400 (1st percentile) with a 61.5% graduation rate, a staggering 37.5% dropout rate—meaning more than one in three students left school—and chronic absenteeism of 36.8%. LEAD Southeast sits in the middle, ranking 205th (49th percentile) with an impressive 95.2% graduation rate and the best attendance in the area, but its academics are mixed: math proficiency (47.3%) beats the state average, while ELA proficiency (26.8%) and English I scores (15.3%) are alarmingly low. Notably, LEAD graduates students well despite weak reading and writing proficiency, creating an unusual disconnect.

Spending follows the same pattern as outcomes, with Valor at $23,841 per student, LEAD at $19,690, and Glencliff at $18,848. Chronic absenteeism also mirrors performance: Glencliff is double the district rate and nearly triple LEAD's. Glencliff holds the urgent headline for parents: 7.4% proficiency in US History, 9.5% in Biology, and near-bottom statewide rankings that have fallen from 348th to 395th. Valor, meanwhile, is a statewide power—63.7% math proficiency versus 43% statewide. This zip code offers two reliable options for families prioritizing retention and graduation (Valor and LEAD), but Glencliff requires immediate intervention to address systemic student-retention and academic-support failures.