The top reported proficiency rate is 45% in Math. The lowest is 19% in Social studies.
Original Research by School Decision on Northfield Elementary
Northfield Elementary sits in Murfreesboro, a city that is one of the fastest-growing in Tennessee and the state’s largest suburb of Nashville. The school serves pre-kindergarten through sixth grade and is part of Murfreesboro City Schools, a pre-K through six district. The district itself is a separate entity from the county’s high school system, meaning families here will eventually transition to a Rutherford County middle and high school after sixth grade.
The school enrolls a substantial number of students for an elementary building, and the student body is diverse in composition. White students make up roughly half the enrollment, with Black students representing the next largest share, followed by Hispanic students and students who identify as two or more races. The student population is spread across grades in a pattern that looks typical for a suburban elementary school, with most grades carrying similar head counts and a smaller sixth-grade group. Data on the share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch was not available.
On state assessments administered through Tennessee’s TNReady program, Northfield Elementary’s results show a range of performance across subjects. In math, about two in five students met the state’s proficiency standard. In English language arts, the share was similar. In science, the rate again hovered in that same range. Social studies saw a much lower proficiency rate, though that result was based on a much smaller group of test takers, because social studies testing in Tennessee is not administered at all elementary grades. Taken together, the school’s overall proficiency index across tested subjects and grades placed it in the bottom quartile relative to districts in Rutherford County, where only two districts were compared. This means that among the county’s district-level averages, Northfield’s composite score fell on the lower end. The context matters: Murfreesboro City Schools is an elementary-only district, and the single other district in the comparison serves a different grade span, so the comparison is not perfectly like-for-like. A parent may want to discuss with the school how its results break down by grade and student group to get a clearer picture.
The school participates fully in the statewide testing program, with participation rates near one hundred percent in every tested subject, so the results reflect nearly all enrolled students in the tested grades. That high participation gives confidence that the scores are representative.
Discipline data, staffing ratios, and course access information were not available in the data provided. Similarly, the school’s Title I status, special education and English learner populations, and chronic absenteeism rate were not reported, so a family would need to ask the school directly about those dimensions of student support.
Northfield Elementary is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and its governance is through the Murfreesboro City Schools district. The district brief turned up no major recent policy, curriculum, or boundary changes that would be relevant to a family deciding on a school.
The community context is shaped by Murfreesboro’s rapid growth. The city has been Tennessee’s fastest-growing major city since the 1990s, driven by its proximity to Nashville and the presence of Middle Tennessee State University. Major employers include Nissan, the county government, Amazon, and MTSU, along with several health care and logistics firms. The housing market reflects that growth: home values in the zip code covering the school are above the national median, and rents are similarly elevated. The area is primarily car-oriented, with Interstates 24 and a second major highway providing access to Nashville. Civic anchors include the Stones River National Battlefield, a greenway system, and a children’s museum.
For a family considering Northfield Elementary, the school offers a full pre-K through sixth-grade program in a rapidly growing suburban city with a strong jobs base. The academic results on state tests are below the county benchmark, though the comparison set is small and limited to district-level averages. The school’s size, diversity, and regular public school status are neutral characteristics that families may weigh differently depending on their priorities. The absence of some common data points means a parent should plan to ask the school or district directly about special education services, English learner support, and other programs.
See more original research from School Decision →