The top reported proficiency rate is 7% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on B. T. Washington High
B. T. Washington High serves students from sixth through twelfth grade in Memphis, as part of the Memphis-Shelby County Schools district. The school draws a small enrollment for a combined middle and high school, and its student body is nearly entirely Black. Because the school does not serve tested grades below third, and because it serves both middle and high school grades, the academic picture comes from the state’s TNReady assessments given to students in grades three through eight. In the most recent testing year, results in math and English language arts were suppressed, meaning the state did not release proficiency rates for those subjects—a parent may want to ask the school directly about their approach to literacy and numeracy. In the subjects where results were reported, science proficiency was low and social studies proficiency was also low. Looking at the school’s overall performance across all tested subjects, B. T. Washington High falls in the bottom quartile among districts in Shelby County. This pattern signals that a significant share of students are not meeting grade-level benchmarks, and a parent considering this school would want to understand what academic supports and interventions are in place.
No graduation rate data were available for this school, so it is not possible to assess how many students complete high school here. Information on chronic absenteeism, discipline, staffing, and course access is also missing from the public record. The school’s status as a regular public school means it follows standard district policies, but it is not a charter or magnet, and no Title I designation was reported. The lack of detail on programs such as Advanced Placement, career and technical education, or dual enrollment means a family would need to contact the school to learn what pathways are offered for its upper-grade students.
The school sits in Memphis’s 38126 zip code, a neighborhood near downtown. Housing in this area is affordable relative to national benchmarks, with home values well below state and national medians, and the rental market similarly modest. The broader Memphis area offers extensive park space along the Mississippi River, cultural landmarks including the National Civil Rights Museum and Graceland, and public transit via MATA. But the immediate school neighborhood is distinct from the city’s more affluent pockets.
As a combined middle and high school with a small, tightly knit student body, B. T. Washington High provides an environment where students move through multiple grades in the same building. The district under which it operates, Memphis-Shelby County Schools, has been discussing facility consolidation and strategic priorities through initiatives such as the Reimagining 901 plan, though publicly available details of recent changes were not found in the brief provided; a parent may wish to check for any current or planned shifts that could affect this school’s programming or building. The data gaps—suppressed test results, missing graduation rate, absent program offerings—mean that a family relying on this profile has only a partial view. A direct conversation with the school’s administration would be necessary to fill in the academic picture, understand the day-to-day environment, and learn what opportunities exist for students in both the middle and high school grades.
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