The top reported proficiency rate is 71% in English language arts. The lowest is 41% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Cherokee Elementary School
Cherokee Elementary School sits on the northern side of the small, rural town of Cherokee in western Colbert County, serving students from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade. The school shares a campus with Cherokee High School, and the land was donated by a local family. As a regular public school that is not a charter or magnet, it is part of the Colbert County school system, whose administrative superstructure was searched for recent parent-relevant changes but none of lasting impact were found publicly reported.
The student body is predominantly white, with a smaller Hispanic population and even smaller shares of Black and multiracial students, reflecting the town's overall demographics. A notable share of students come from households that qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing the school in a context where many families are managing modest economic resources. The town of Cherokee itself has seen a long-term decline in population, and its housing values are on the lower end compared to state benchmarks, with values slipping recently. The community is auto-oriented, with U.S. Highway 72 as its main corridor, and the major local employers are industrial: a tissue manufacturing plant, a nitrogen production facility, a limestone quarry, and a newly announced railcar factory. Civic life for many families revolves around outdoor recreation along the Tennessee River and the Natchez Trace Parkway.
On state assessments administered in the 2024-25 school year, Cherokee Elementary produced a mixed set of results. In English language arts, performance was strongest in the younger grades, with third and fifth graders showing a high proficiency rate, while fourth and sixth graders were solidly in the middle. In math, the pattern was more uneven: third and fifth graders performed well, but fourth and sixth graders had lower proficiency rates, which a parent might want to discuss with the school to understand what supports are in place for those grade-level transitions. In science, only fourth grade was tested, and the proficiency rate was a soft spot that merits attention. Looking across the school as a whole, Cherokee Elementary's overall proficiency index placed it in the top quartile among the four districts in Colbert County, indicating that within this countywide comparison set the school is performing on the stronger side, though the cohort of districts is small.
Because the school ends at sixth grade, it does not have a graduation rate, and the data does not include information on chronic absenteeism, discipline, or special education and English learner counts, so those dimensions of student support are not fully visible from the available records. The school environment section also lacked information on staffing ratios and course access. For a parent weighing this school, the academic picture shows clear strengths in early elementary reading and pockets of vulnerability in upper-elementary math and science that warrant a conversation with the principal about curriculum and intervention strategies.
The town's long population decline means the school's enrollment context is stable but not growing, and the housing market is affordable relative to the state and nation, with home values below typical benchmarks. Families moving to Cherokee for the industrial employment base will find a school that serves the community from pre-K through sixth grade, after which students move on to Cherokee High School on the same campus. For those who want a small, rural school with a strong record in early literacy and a setting where the school campus is the center of the community, Cherokee Elementary fits that description, though a parent should seek clarity on the dip in upper-grade math and science performance.
See more original research from School Decision →