Summary:
Zip code 38425 contains one school: Frank Hughes School, an alternative school in Clifton, TN, serving grades PK–12 with 276 students in Wayne County Schools, a district ranked 111th out of 141 Tennessee districts. As the only school in the area, its most useful comparisons are against its district and the state, and the picture is genuinely mixed: strong results in several subjects coexist with serious weaknesses in others.
Frank Hughes stands out as a bright spot relative to its low-ranked district. The school outperforms Wayne County Schools in nearly every all-grade subject and even beats the state in all-grades math (50.5% proficient vs. 43% statewide) and English II (64% vs. 58.1%). Particularly impressive are 3rd-grade math at 92.3% proficiency, 7th-grade science at 78.6%, and 7th-grade ELA at 57.1%—all far above district and state averages. Yet performance is extremely uneven across grade levels: 8th-grade ELA sits at just 8% proficient, 6th-grade science at 18.2%, and high school math is a clear weakness, with Algebra I at 15.8% and Geometry at 12% versus state averages near 32% and 42%. These sharp swings likely reflect small grade-level cohorts in a school of only 276 students, where a few students can dramatically shift percentages.
The school also shows notable year-to-year improvements in high school subjects, including a 26-point jump in English II and a 23-point jump in Biology I, though overall ELA proficiency dipped slightly. Chronic absenteeism at 14.3% is better than the state's 18.3%, so attendance is not the main barrier. The dropout rate of 12.5% is high, but context matters since Frank Hughes is an alternative school serving students with potential disruptions or risk factors. For parents, the key takeaway is that this small PK–12 school has genuine strengths in elementary math and select middle/high school subjects, but families should pay close attention to support for 8th-grade ELA, Geometry, Algebra I, and 6th-grade science.
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