Best Elementary Schools in Zip Code 37397

Zip code 37397 is served by a single elementary school, Whitwell Elementary School in Whitwell, TN, which enrolls 482 students in grades PK–4 and operates within Marion County Schools, a district currently ranked 97th out of 141 in Tennessee. Because this is the only school in the area, the focus is entirely on Whitwell’s performance relative to its district and state benchmarks. The school stands out as a consistently above-district performer across all tested subjects, but it shows a mixed picture when compared to the rest of Tennessee. Most notably, Whitwell posts a strong all-grades ELA proficiency rate of 46.3%, which is 10.9 points higher than its district and 5.7 points higher than the state, driven largely by an exceptional 3rd-grade ELA score of 51.7%.

Beyond ELA, Whitwell outperforms Marion County in math (38.3% vs. 34.0%) and science (42.6% vs. 37.9%), yet it trails the state averages in both subjects. The school’s biggest area of concern is 4th-grade math, where only 35.6% of students are proficient compared to 49.4% statewide—a 13.8-point deficit. Fourth-grade ELA also shows a sharp drop-off from the strong 3rd-grade result, falling to 39.7%, which is below both the district (45.8%) and state (47.4%). On a more positive note, the school improved its state ranking from 609th in 2024–2025 to 550th in 2025–2026, aided by a dramatic 9.1-point year-over-year gain in ELA proficiency. However, it remains well below its 2023–2024 peak of 339th (3-star status).

Chronic absenteeism at Whitwell is 19.5%—better than the district’s 21.8% but worse than the state’s 18.3%, meaning roughly one in five students misses significant school time. The school spends $12,740 per student, but without district or state comparisons, the efficiency of that spending is unclear. Overall, Whitwell Elementary is a mid-performing school that does well locally, especially in early literacy, but needs targeted support in upper-elementary math and reading to close gaps with the state and return to its previous 3-star rating.