The top reported proficiency rate is 58% in Math. The lowest is 38% in Social studies.
Original Research by School Decision on Bells Elementary
Bells Elementary is the sole elementary school for the Bells district in Crockett County, serving students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. It is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and sits in a rural agricultural town in West Tennessee. The school’s identity is shaped by the community it serves: a small, slow-growing town anchored by the PictSweet Farms frozen vegetable company, where most residents are car-dependent and the nearest city for broader services is roughly a twenty-mile drive away.
The student body is largely white, with more than a quarter of students identifying as Black or Hispanic, a composition that reflects the broader rural and agricultural labor patterns of the area. Housing in the zip code has a value that is notably lower than both the state and national benchmarks, making this a more affordable area for families by comparison. The school’s enrollment is at an elementary-appropriate size, with classes distributed across each grade level from kindergarten upward without sharp drop-offs, suggesting steady retention of students through the elementary years.
On state testing, Bells Elementary’s performance sits in a mixed position. In math, just over half of students reached the proficient or above threshold on the TNReady assessment, a result that places the school roughly at the midpoint among the three districts in Crockett County. Reading and language arts proficiency was a weaker area, with fewer than half of students scoring at that level. Science proficiency fell between math and reading. The school does not have a reported social studies score from a recent year, and the available data for that subject is from a different assessment period and is not comparable. Across all tested subjects combined, the school ranks above the midpoint among the county’s districts, though the field is a small one and the spread among the three districts is not wide. A parent may want to ask the school directly about its approach to literacy instruction, since that is the subject where the gap relative to math is largest.
Several data points that families often look for in a full picture of a school are missing here. There is no information on the share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price meals, no data on the number of students receiving special education services or identified as English learners, and no chronic absenteeism rate documented. The school’s staffing ratios, discipline data, and course access details are also absent. Because Bells Elementary is a pre-K through fifth grade building, it does not have a graduation rate, so that gap is a function of the grade band rather than a missing metric. Still, the absence of these other fields means a parent may want to contact the school or its district office for more context on student supports and school climate.
The district itself appears to have been stable in recent years; publicly available research did not turn up any major or recent changes in programming, boundaries, or leadership that would shift the experience for a family enrolling now. The school’s building is separate from the high school campus, both located along the town’s highway corridor rather than in a traditional downtown core.
For a parent weighing this school, the picture is one of a small-town elementary with a slight edge in math relative to its nearby peers but a softer reading outcome that warrants a closer look. The student body is diverse for a rural setting, housing is affordable compared to much of Tennessee, and the community’s economic anchor in food processing gives it a steady industrial base. The school serves only through fifth grade, so families will eventually need to transition to the district’s middle and high school, which are not part of this profile. The missing data on supports like special education and English learner services is a notable gap, and a parent whose child has specific learning needs should verify what is available before assuming services are in place.
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