Summary:
Zip code 37871 is home to just one middle school: Carter Middle School, located in Strawberry Plains, TN and serving grades 6–8 as part of Knox County Schools. The school enrolls 604 students with per-pupil spending of $13,470. Carter currently ranks in the 41st percentile among Tennessee middle schools with a 2-star rating, a notable improvement from the previous year's 28th percentile and 1-star rating, though still slightly below its 42nd percentile showing two years ago.
Academically, Carter trails both the district and state in most core subjects. Across all grades, math proficiency stands at 29.5% versus 45.0% for Knox County and 43.0% for Tennessee, while ELA proficiency is 30.4% compared to 44.7% and 40.6% respectively. Science (34.8%) and social studies (50.1%) also lag district averages, though social studies is the school's relative strength and 6th-grade social studies actually exceeds the state average. The school did show strong year-over-year growth in science (+11.0 points), social studies (+8.4 points), and math (+7.4 points). Chronic absenteeism is a serious concern, affecting 30.1% of students versus 19.4% for the district and 18.3% statewide.
One misleading figure deserves attention: Carter's All-Grades Algebra I proficiency of 54.3% appears to exceed district and state averages, but when compared specifically to 8th-grade Algebra I, Carter's rate is far below the district (83.2%) and state (88.3%). Additionally, math proficiency drops sharply as students progress, falling from 38.7% in 6th grade to just 19.9% in 8th grade, a nearly 20-point gap versus the state at that level. ELA follows a similar downward trend. In summary, Carter Middle School shows encouraging momentum on several measures, but the combination of high chronic absenteeism and declining performance in later grades remains a major obstacle for the school.
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