The top reported proficiency rate is 82% in English language arts. The lowest is 75% in Social studies.
Original Research by School Decision on Arlington Elementary
Arlington Elementary sits in a fast-growing suburban town about a half-hour’s drive northeast of Memphis, in a part of Shelby County that has seen explosive population growth over the past few decades. The school serves students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade and is part of Arlington Community Schools, a district that was itself created in response to the area’s expansion. The town has a rural-suburban feel, with most residents living in single-family homes, and a historic Depot Square area that hosts frequent community events like concerts, a farmers market, and holiday gatherings. Commercial growth has added restaurants, stores, and medical offices, and a new veterans’ home is expected to open soon. The housing market reflects that growth, with home values that have been rising steadily and a cost of living that is somewhat above the national average.
Arlington Elementary is a regular public school with an enrollment that is large for an elementary school, drawing from the surrounding neighborhoods. The student body is majority white, with smaller shares of Black, Hispanic, Asian, and multiracial students. The school’s state testing data, drawn from the TNReady assessments in grades three through five, show strong results: in math and English language arts the proportion of students scoring proficient or above is high, and in science it is similarly strong. Because these are the most recent scores available and the school’s overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile relative to districts in Shelby County, a reader can take this as a clear academic strength. The school serves only elementary grades, so there is no graduation rate to report; that metric simply does not apply here.
Some information that families sometimes look for is not present in the records. The share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price meals is not reported, nor is the number of students with individualized education plans or those who are English learners. That means a parent interested in the school’s socioeconomic composition or the extent of special education and language support services would need to ask the district directly. There is also no publicly reported data on chronic absenteeism, discipline rates, or staffing ratios. Given the school’s regular public-school status and its relatively large size, these gaps likely reflect the availability of data rather than any particular concern, but a parent may want to inquire further with the school to get a fuller picture.
The district itself recently searched for any major changes such as boundary adjustments, new curriculum initiatives, or property-tax referendums but found no material shifts that would permanently affect a family’s experience. That suggests a period of stability in the district’s operations, though the town’s continued growth could eventually lead to capacity or boundary decisions.
Arlington Elementary offers a straightforward academic pathway for young children in a community that has been growing quickly and attracting families drawn to the combination of suburban neighborhoods, a small-town town center, and strong elementary test scores. The school’s performance on state assessments is a clear asset, and for a family whose priorities include high proficiency in the early grades, this is a school worth serious consideration. The missing pieces around student support and demographics mean that any family should follow up with the school to confirm that it matches their child’s particular needs, but the core academic picture is well-established.
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