NCES CCD 2024-25 83 schools TN

Best-Resourced Schools in Knoxville, TN

Compiled from official source data by .

83 public K-12 schools in Knoxville from NCES Common Core of Data: enrollment, grade span, demographics, and Civil Rights Data Collection statistics for every active campus.

PlainSchools home → About this data
83
Schools
53,410
Students
40.3/100
Avg Resource Index
13.9:1
Avg Student-Teacher Ratio

National city placement

Middle-of-corpus city profile

According to NCES CCD 2024-25, Knoxville has more public-school enrollment than 98% of the 4,487 US cities in this directory. Knoxville sits in the broad middle of the national city distribution rather than at a single obvious extreme. Its scale, average Resource Investment Index, and staffing position need to be read together: a middle placement on one measure does not cancel a stronger or weaker result on another. The percentile panel makes those dimensions explicit, and the school table shows where the city aggregate breaks into materially different campus profiles.

Combined-grade campuses shape the local portfolio

41 of Knoxville's 83 listed schools use NCES's combined or “other” grade-level classification. Citywide averages therefore blend campuses serving unusually broad or nonstandard grade spans with conventional elementary, middle, and high schools. Grade configuration is a first-order comparison here, not a minor label.

Campus spread matters more than the city mean

The 68-point gap between Ridgedale Alternative School and Tennessee Virtual Junior High School shows the range hidden by Knoxville's average Resource Investment Index. The city figure is useful for national placement, but families ultimately choose among campuses with different grade spans, enrollment, district affiliations, and reported support fields. Start with schools serving the relevant grade level, then compare the index components rather than assuming the city average describes any one classroom.

City enrollment
Top 2%
School count
Top 2%
Resource Index average
47th percentile
Teacher staffing
68th percentile

Knoxville school enrollment varies 51× across entities

Knoxville school enrollment ranges from 41 students (lowest) to 2,073 students (highest), a spread of 2,032 students. That ratio is among the widest observed and reflects extreme heterogeneity inside a single city, with small specialty programs listed alongside large comprehensive campuses. Per-school staffing and program breadth can differ sharply at opposite ends of that enrollment range, so the city average should not be treated as a typical campus.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data

Knoxville student-teacher ratio is 13.9:1 — low (typically associated with smaller schools or per-school staffing investment that often correlates with stronger per-student supports)

student-teacher ratio is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: the ratio counts FTE classroom teachers against total enrollment, push-in specialists, English-language aides, special-education co-teachers, and counselors are not included in most reporting Lower values often correlate with smaller scale and population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data, Public School Universe

# School Score
1. Ridgedale Alternative School 70
2. Knox Adaptive Education Center 69
3. Richard Yoakley School 68
4. Tennessee School for Deaf Elementary School 66
5. Dr. Paul L. Kelley Volunteer Academy 61
6. Kcs Virtual Elementary School 60
7. Lonsdale Elementary 59
8. Mt Olive Elementary 55
9. Bonny Kate Elementary 54
10. West View Elementary 54
11. Gap Creek Elementary 54
12. Tennessee School for the Deaf Upper School 54
13. Maynard Elementary 52
14. Rocky Hill Elementary 51
15. Norwood Elementary 51
16. Pleasant Ridge Elementary 51
17. Christenberry Elementary 49
18. New Hopewell Elementary 49
19. South Knox Elementary 49
20. Northshore Elementary School 46
21. Cedar Bluff Middle School 46
22. Shannondale Elementary 46
23. Brickey Mccloud Elementary 45
24. Sequoyah Elementary 45
25. Bearden Elementary 45
26. Fountain City Elementary 45
27. Kcs Virtual Middle School 45
28. Sarah Moore Greene Magnet Technology Academy 44
29. Chilhowee Intermediate 44
30. Amherst Elementary School 43
31. Blue Grass Elementary 43
32. Farragut Primary 42
33. Ft Sanders Education Development Center 42
34. Vine Middle/Magnet 42
35. West Haven Elementary 42
36. L N Stem Academy 41
37. Sterchi Elementary 41
38. Farragut Intermediate 40
39. A L Lotts Elementary 40
40. Hardin Valley Elementary 40
41. West Hills Elementary 39
42. Halls Elementary 39
43. Austin East High/Magnet 39
44. Green Magnet Math and Science Academy 39
45. Tennessee Virtual Academy 38
46. Pond Gap Elementary 38
47. Sunnyview Primary 38
48. Cedar Bluff Elementary 37
49. Adrian Burnett Elementary 37
50. Holston Middle School 37

Showing top 50 of 83 schools.

Most racially and ethnically mixed schools in Knoxville

Ranked by the Simpson student-body diversity index (0-100) from NCES race and ethnicity data, where higher means a more evenly mixed student body. It measures mix, not quality.

  1. 1 Tennessee School for the Deaf Upper School 74.6/100
  2. 2 Pond Gap Elementary 73.8/100
  3. 3 West Haven Elementary 71.9/100
  4. 4 Belle Morris Elementary 71.3/100
  5. 5 Dr. Paul L. Kelley Volunteer Academy 71.0/100

What do families ask about schools in Knoxville?

Which Knoxville school has the highest Resource Investment Index? ▼

Ridgedale Alternative School has the highest Resource Investment Index among the Knoxville schools in this federal-data comparison at 70/100. The index summarizes reported staffing, counseling, gifted-program, and attendance inputs; it is not an academic rating.

How many schools are in Knoxville, TN? ▼

Knoxville has 83 public schools with a total enrollment of 53,410 students. 1 are charter schools. Average student-teacher ratio: 13.9:1.

Other Cities in Tennessee

Memphis
206 schools
Nashville
121 schools
Chattanooga
48 schools
Clarksville
39 schools
Murfreesboro
32 schools
Cleveland
25 schools

Side-by-side: Compare any two schools or districts in Tennessee →

Data from NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 and Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) 2021-22. The Resource Investment Index uses reported student-teacher ratio, counselor access, gifted programs, and attendance; it is not an academic rating. Cities must include at least five schools to be listed. This public-data comparison is for informational purposes: verify current enrollment, attendance boundaries, and programs with the school district before acting. See the guide to understanding NCES data.