The top reported proficiency rate is 31% in Science. The lowest is 14% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on City University School Girls Preparatory
City University School Girls Preparatory is a public charter middle school in Memphis, serving only girls in sixth through eighth grade. It operates within the Memphis-Shelby County Schools system but has its own governance as a charter. For a family considering an all-girls academic setting for the middle years, this school offers that structure explicitly. The enrollment is modest, and the student body is composed overwhelmingly of Black students, with a very small share of Hispanic students and students identifying as two or more races. Data on students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, students with disabilities, and English learners was not available in the public records reviewed, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about the level of support offered in those areas.
State testing results are reported for math, English language arts, science, and social studies. Across all four subjects, the share of students scoring at or above the proficient level is low. Math proficiency and ELA proficiency are particularly low, with fewer than one in four students reaching that benchmark. Science and social studies show somewhat higher rates but still below half. When compared with other schools across Shelby County, this school’s overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile. Participation rates on the assessments were high, meaning these results reflect nearly all enrolled students. Because the school serves only grades six through eight, there is no graduation rate to report.
The school is a regular charter school; no special program designation such as magnet or Title I status was listed in the available data. No information was provided on course offerings, staffing ratios, discipline rates, or chronic absenteeism, so those dimensions of school life are not possible to characterize here. Families would need to seek those details directly from the school to get a full picture of day-to-day operations and academic pathways.
Memphis itself offers a range of civic and cultural anchors. Publicly reported landmarks include the National Civil Rights Museum, Graceland, Sun Studio, the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, and Beale Street as a historic entertainment district. The city has several large parks—Tom Lee Park along the Mississippi River underwent a major renovation in recent years, Shelby Farms Park is one of the nation’s largest urban parks, and Overton Park houses the Memphis Zoo. The Memphis Area Transit Authority provides public bus service, and FedExForum hosts the Memphis Grizzlies. Housing in the ZIP code where the school is located reflects a market that is more affordable than the state and national averages, with typical home values and rents below those benchmarks.
In sum, City University School Girls Preparatory is a small, all-girls charter middle school whose state test results are on the lower end relative to other schools in Shelby County. The intentional single-gender environment is its defining characteristic. Significant gaps in publicly available data—particularly around student supports, staffing, and programming—mean that a parent considering this school would be well served by visiting and asking about those details directly. The school’s location in Memphis places it within a large city with rich cultural and recreational resources, and the surrounding housing market is comparatively affordable.
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