The top reported proficiency rate is 20% in Math. The lowest is 9% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Hattie Cotton Elementary
Hattie Cotton Elementary is a regular public school in Nashville’s Davidon County district, serving prekindergarten through fifth grade. The school is in Davidson County, and Nashville itself is a major state capital and fast-growing urban center with a diversified economy anchored by healthcare, music, publishing, automotive, and technology industries. It is a city of large scale, a consolidated city-county government, and a significant geographic footprint that makes car dependency common across most neighborhoods. The downtown area holds civic institutions, entertainment venues, and corporate headquarters, while university campuses are scattered throughout the city. The overall context for families looking at Hattie Cotton is a large, dynamic, and sprawling city with varied neighborhood conditions.
The school enrolls a student body that is majority Black, with a substantial Hispanic population and a smaller share of white students. The enrollment size is small for an elementary school, and the grade span runs from prekindergarten through fifth grade. Data on the share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch was not available, nor were counts of students with individualized education plans or English learner status. A parent may want to ask the school directly about these support populations to understand the range of student needs the school serves.
On the state’s TNReady assessments, the school’s overall proficiency index across tested subjects and grades places it above the midpoint relative to districts in Davidson County. That said, the proficiency rates themselves are low. In math, about one in five students scored at the proficient or above level. In English language arts, fewer than one in ten students reached that benchmark. In science, roughly one in seven students scored proficient or above. A social studies result from an earlier year, before assessment changes, showed about one in five proficient. The participation rate on the tests was very high, close to complete. The pattern here is consistent and points to a school where the majority of students are not yet meeting state proficiency standards in core academic areas, particularly in literacy. A parent considering this school would want to understand what academic supports and interventions are in place and how the school is working to move these numbers.
Because this is an elementary school, there is no graduation rate to report; the grade band does not extend to high school. Data on chronic absenteeism, discipline, staffing ratios, course access, and other civil rights and school environment measures were also absent from the available information. This is a notable gap. A parent may want to visit the school and ask about attendance patterns, class sizes, and the availability of specialists or enrichment programs.
The zip-level housing market shows home values well above the national benchmark, with a recent slight year-over-year decline. Rents are also above national levels, and the estimated monthly mortgage payment is higher than typical rent, suggesting that homeownership in the immediate area carries a financial premium. The broader economic context includes a recent national median household income, a mortgage rate in the mid-range, and a low unemployment rate.
No district-level strategic changes with lasting parent impact were found in publicly available sources, so that section is left unaddressed rather than guessed at. No information on magnet or Title I status was provided.
For a family, Hattie Cotton Elementary presents as a small, diverse neighborhood school in a large and growing city. The academic results are a clear concern, with low proficiency across subjects and especially in reading. The school’s relative position within Davidson County districts is above the middle on an index that averages these rates, but that is a low bar in this context. The housing market around the school is expensive, which may mean the school serves a mix of families who have lived in the area for some time and those who are newer to a changing neighborhood. The lack of publicly available data on student support populations, discipline, and staffing means a parent would need to gather that information directly from the school to get a full picture.
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