Summary:
Zip code 37909 is home to exactly one middle school: Bearden Middle School, which serves grades 6 through 8 as part of Knox County Schools. Bearden Middle School is a 4-star school, ranking 169th out of 594 Tennessee middle schools (72nd percentile), and it stands out as a strong performer within its district, which itself ranks only in the 45th percentile statewide. With 1,229 students enrolled, the school is a substantial educational institution in the Knoxville area, spending approximately $12,022 per student.
Academically, Bearden Middle School outperforms the Tennessee state average in English Language Arts (43.2% vs. 40.6%), Science (52.0% vs. 46.9%), and Social Studies (58.2% vs. 51.4%). The most striking finding is the school's Algebra I proficiency rate of 88.2% — more than 55 points above both the district and state averages of roughly 32%. However, general mathematics tells a different story: only 35.5% of all students are proficient, and 8th-grade general math proficiency sits at just 23.3% compared to the state's 38.3%. This suggests that many advanced 8th graders are placed into Algebra I, leaving the general math test to a smaller, less-prepared group, which can make overall math scores appear weaker than the school's actual math performance.
Year-over-year, Bearden Middle improved notably in Algebra I (from 81.0% to 88.2%) and Science (from 45.4% to 52.0%), while math and ELA saw slight declines. The school has maintained a consistent 4-star rating for three consecutive years, ranging from the 71st to 74th percentile. One area to watch is chronic absenteeism: 19.7% of students are chronically absent, slightly above the state average of 18.3%, which is worth monitoring in a school this size. Overall, Bearden Middle School is a strong, stable school with excellent advanced math offerings and solid performance in most subjects, with general math proficiency and attendance being the primary areas for parents to monitor.
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