The top reported proficiency rate is 31% in Social studies. The lowest is 18% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Byrns Darden Elementary
Byrns Darden Elementary is a regular public school serving students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in Clarksville, Tennessee. It is one of the elementary schools in the Montgomery County district. The school serves a diverse student body. White students make up roughly a quarter of enrollment, Black students about a third, Hispanic students about a quarter, and the remainder identify as two or more races or other categories. The total enrollment puts it at a size that is typical for an elementary school in a city of Clarksville’s scale. Data on free or reduced-price meal eligibility, English learner status, and special education identification were not available in the data we reviewed.
Academically, Tennessee’s TNReady assessments for the 2024-25 school year show that proficiency rates for Byrns Darden’s third through fifth graders are well below state averages. In math, about one in five students scored at the proficient or above level. In English language arts, the share is roughly one in five as well. In science, just over a quarter of students met the proficient bar. These are soft spots that a parent may want to explore further with the school, as the numbers indicate that most students are not reaching grade-level benchmarks in core subjects. Social studies results are available only from the 2017-18 school year, which is too old to characterize current performance. Participation rates on the assessments were high, at or near 100 percent, so the results reflect nearly all enrolled students in the tested grades.
The school serves a young population, with grades PK through 5, so there is no graduation rate or college-readiness data to report. No data on chronic absenteeism or discipline were available, nor any information on course access or staffing ratios. Because the comparison set within Montgomery County contained only this school’s district, it was not possible to place Byrns Darden relative to other elementary schools in the county.
The community context matters for families considering this school. Clarksville is a mid-sized city that has grown rapidly in recent years, driven by its proximity to Fort Campbell, a major Army installation, and a base of employers including Trane, Austin Peay State University, Amazon, FedEx, and several manufacturing firms. The city’s population has increased substantially since 2020, and new distribution centers and industrial operations have added jobs. This growth has brought both new residential development and demographic change. The school is located on East Street in the city’s older core, an area that blends residential and commercial uses. The city overall is automobile-dependent, with walkable pockets near the downtown and university.
No recent parent-relevant changes at the district level were found in the available records. The district brief searched for any major policy shifts, boundary changes, or programmatic updates that would affect families in the near term, but none were identified during the research window. This means that as of the most recent data, no large-scale disruptions or initiatives have been publicly reported for Montgomery County schools.
For a parent or resident evaluating Byrns Darden Elementary, the academic performance numbers are the primary area of concern. The school serves a diverse and likely mobile population, given the presence of Fort Campbell and the city’s industrial labor force. The setting is urban-suburban, with a mix of older homes and newer subdivisions. Housing values in the zip code are below the state median, and rents are moderate relative to local incomes. The school itself is a traditional elementary with no special designation as a charter or magnet, and no Title I status was reported in the data. Families looking into this school will want to understand how the school supports students who are not yet proficient, what interventions and enrichment are offered, and how the school community engages with the rapid growth and change happening in Clarksville.
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