Schools in Zip Code 38068

Zip code 38068 (Somerville, Tennessee) contains 4 schools—including elementary, middle, and high schools—serving about 1,490 students, with most belonging to Fayette County Schools, a district ranked 139th out of 141 in Tennessee. All three traditional schools in this area are improving but remain in the bottom quarter of the state, while a fourth school, Barbara Ward Cooper Education Center, is a specialized facility under the Department of Children’s Services and should not be compared on the same terms as traditional public schools.

The standout improvement story is East Junior High School, which jumped from the 8th percentile to the 27th percentile over three years; its 7th grade math and science scores are nearly at state averages, and social studies is its strongest subject. However, 40.9% of its students are chronically absent—more than double the state rate—and 6th and 8th grade math scores remain very low. Buckley-Carpenter Elementary School is the highest-ranked traditional school in the zip code and the only one with chronic absenteeism below the state average (14.3% vs. 18.3%). It also showed strong ELA and science growth this year, with 4th grade math and ELA as relative bright spots. Fayette Ware Comprehensive High School has an improving rank and a graduation rate of 89.2%, very close to the state’s 90.5%, but its 9th grade English I proficiency is just 7.5% and Algebra II only 8.6%—both far below state averages.

Chronic absenteeism is a hidden crisis at the middle school level, and Fayette Ware’s near-average graduation rate masks the fact that many students leave without proficiency in key subjects like Algebra II and US History. Barbara Ward Cooper, with a 10% graduation rate and 80% dropout rate, serves highly vulnerable students and drastically skews aggregate statistics. Spending is identical across all Fayette County schools ($13,701 per student), so differences in outcomes point to school-specific factors like attendance and transition supports. Overall, zip code 38068 shows consistent, though fragile, progress, with East Junior High’s rapid rise and Buckley-Carpenter’s healthy attendance as the most positive signals.