The top reported proficiency rate is 32% in Math. The lowest is 11% in Social studies.
Original Research by School Decision on Tusculum Elementary
Tusculum Elementary serves students from pre-kindergarten through fourth grade in Nashville, within the Davidson County public school system. A regular public school, it is situated in the southeastern part of the city. Nashville itself is a major state capital and a large, fast-growing urban center, home to a diverse economy anchored by healthcare, music, publishing, and technology, as well as multiple universities. The city’s geographic footprint is large and development has historically been spread out, making car dependency common across most neighborhoods.
The school enrolls a student body that is predominantly Hispanic, with that group making up the large majority of students. White students and Black students each represent a modest share of the population, and there is a small Asian student presence. The free and reduced-price lunch rate was not available in the data, so a reader cannot assess the share of students from low-income households through that measure. The school is a regular elementary school, not a charter or magnet.
On state assessments administered through the TNReady program, student proficiency rates in math, English language arts, and science all fell below the thresholds that the state labels as proficient or above. In math, just under a third of students met that mark. In English language arts, roughly a fifth did. In science, the rate was lower still. Across all tested subjects and grades, the school’s overall proficiency index placed it above the midpoint when compared to other districts in Davidson County. That comparison set is small, but it does indicate that, among the county’s districts, Tusculum Elementary’s academic performance sits in the middle of the pack rather than at either extreme. The participation rate on the tests was complete, meaning nearly all enrolled students were assessed.
Because the school serves only through fourth grade, there is no high school graduation rate to report. The data also did not include information on chronic absenteeism, discipline rates, or staffing ratios. A parent who wants a fuller picture of student support and school climate may want to follow up with the school directly for those details.
Housing costs in the zip code surrounding the school are above the statewide benchmark for Tennessee, though they are close to the national average. Home values have seen a modest decline over the past year, and rental prices have also edged down slightly. The estimated monthly mortgage payment in the area is higher than the typical rent, suggesting that buying a home here costs more than renting on a monthly basis. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate at the time of this data was above six percent, which affects affordability broadly across the housing market.
The school is part of Metro Nashville Public Schools. No district-level changes with lasting impact on parents were found in public reporting for the recent period. The district brief turned up geographic and demographic information about Davidson County but no specific initiatives, boundary changes, or program shifts to note.
For a family choosing an elementary school, Tusculum Elementary presents as a mid-sized school within a large urban district, serving a student body where most children are Hispanic and state assessment results are modest in math and lower in reading and science. Its proficiency profile is neither at the top nor the bottom relative to other districts in the county. The school does not have some common data points that many parents use to gauge a school, such as economic disadvantage and special education rates, which may warrant a conversation with the school leadership to fill in those gaps. The community context is one of a growing, car-oriented city with housing costs that are above the state median but not dramatically above the national figure, and the local market is showing a slight softness in both home and rental prices.
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