Summary:
Zip code 38114 is served by a single high school: Melrose High School, which enrolls 645 students in grades 9 through 12 and is part of Memphis-Shelby County Schools, a district ranked in the 3rd percentile (137 of 141) among Tennessee districts. Because Melrose is the only high school in the area, there are no neighboring schools to compare it against; instead, all comparisons are drawn against district and state averages.
Melrose High School is one of the lowest-performing high schools in Tennessee, ranking 397 out of 400 schools (1st percentile) in 2025-2026 and remaining in the bottom 2% over the past several years. Academic proficiency is deeply concerning: only 13.4% of students scored proficient on English II, and just 7.7% on Biology I — roughly 45 and 42 points below state averages, respectively. Algebra II proficiency for 10th graders was 7.7%, compared to the state's 61.1%. The school's graduation rate stands at 77.0%, well below the state's 90.5%, while the dropout rate of 20.4% is more than triple the state rate of 6.7%. Chronic absenteeism affects 69.9% of students — 3.8 times the state rate. Per-student spending is $13,353, but outcomes remain very low.
Perhaps the most significant red flag is absenteeism: nearly 70% of students are chronically absent, which almost certainly drives the low test scores, high dropout rates, and low graduation rates. There is also meaningful variation between grade levels; in 2025-2026, 10th-grade Biology proficiency was 20%, compared to just 6.7% for 11th graders, showing that schoolwide averages hide important differences. One rare bright spot: 12th-grade Algebra II proficiency matched the state average of 6.7% in 2024-2025, though that is still very low. Overall, trends show no meaningful improvement since 2022-2023, and Melrose remains in the bottom 1-2% of Tennessee high schools. For parents, the data point to critical needs around attendance, student support, and academic intervention.
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