The top reported proficiency rate is 46% in Science. The lowest is 20% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Margaret Newton Elementary
Margaret Newton Elementary serves early childhood and the first years of formal schooling: pre-kindergarten through second grade. Because the school stops at second grade, the state testing data on this page comes from a prior period when third through eighth graders were enrolled, and those results are several years old. A parent should know that the available test scores date to a time before the school's current grade configuration, and the school now operates outside the tested grade span. The science and social studies results shown are older still. What this means is that there is no recent, grade-appropriate academic performance data to characterize the school’s current instruction.
The school is a regular public school in Tiptonville, the county seat of Lake County in the far northwestern corner of Tennessee. Tiptonville is a small rural town situated between Reelfoot Lake and the Mississippi River. The town’s economy centers on the Northwest Correctional Complex, a maximum-security state prison, and tourism drawn by Reelfoot Lake State Park. Tiptonville has seen a population decline over the most recent decade, and the median household income is low with a high poverty rate. Housing values in the area are well below the state and national benchmarks, reflecting the rural and economically modest context. The town is auto-dependent, with no public transit and limited walkability.
Margaret Newton is the elementary school for Lake County Schools, the single school district covering the county. No recent district-level changes were identified that would affect families in a notable way. The school’s enrollment is small, serving a little under 200 students across pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, first, and second grades. The student body is predominantly white, with a substantial Black minority and a smaller share of students identifying as two or more races. Hispanic students make up a very small portion of the enrollment. Data on students with disabilities, English learners, and students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch were not available in the source materials, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about these supports.
Because the school serves only pre-kindergarten through second grade, there is no graduation rate, no high school course access to evaluate, and no chronic absenteeism data applicable to the current grade band. The school is not a charter school; its charter status is not applicable, and there is no indication of magnet or Title I designation. Discipline data, course access information, and staffing ratios were also absent from the record.
For a family considering this school, the picture is one of a very small, early-primary building in a rural, economically struggling county. The school’s role is to provide the foundation years before students move on to the district's upper elementary and secondary schools. A parent who values a small, community-anchored setting for the youngest grades may find this a comfortable fit. A parent who expects to evaluate academic performance through state test scores will find no current data to examine, given the grade band. The best next step would be to speak directly with the school about its early literacy and math instruction, class sizes, and how it prepares children for the transition to third grade in the district’s other schools. The housing market in Tiptonville is affordable relative to the state, which may matter for families relocating, but the town’s economic conditions and population loss are also part of the context.
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