Best Public Schools in Zip Code 37410

Zip code 37410 in Chattanooga, TN has just two schools: Calvin Donaldson Environmental Science Academy (elementary, PK–5) and Chattanooga Charter School of Excellence High (grades 9–12), both part of Hamilton County Schools, a district ranked 81st of 141 in Tennessee. There are no middle or alternative schools in the zip code, meaning students must leave the area after 5th grade and return for 9th grade.

The two schools face similar academic struggles but show different patterns. At Calvin Donaldson Environmental Science Academy, proficiency rates are below 13% in math, ELA, and science — with 5th grade ELA and science just 6.9% — despite spending $22,711 per student, the highest in the zip code. The school ranks 992nd of 1019 Tennessee elementary schools (bottom 3%), though it improved from 1010th two years ago. Chattanooga Charter School of Excellence High, with only 113 students and $20,674 per student, has a dramatic subject gap: English II proficiency is strong at 38.2%, but English I is just 6.4% and Geometry is 14.7%. It ranks 355th of 400 high schools.

Chronic absenteeism is the most urgent red flag, especially at the high school, where 37.2% of students are chronically absent versus 17.1% districtwide and 18.3% statewide; at Calvin Donaldson Environmental Science Academy the rate is 22.6%. There are encouraging signs — Biology I jumped from 12.5% to 25.7%, and English II improved from 25.7% to 38.2% — but English I declined and the elementary school's science proficiency remains far below state averages despite its "Environmental Science" theme. The lack of a local middle school likely adds transition instability, and since free/reduced lunch and student-teacher ratios were not reported, chronic absenteeism offers the clearest signal of the economic and engagement challenges these schools face.