The top reported proficiency rate is 26% in English language arts. The lowest is 20% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Carter-lawrence Elementary
Carter-Lawrence Elementary serves students from prekindergarten through fifth grade in Nashville. It is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet. The school draws from a neighborhood that sits within a large, fast-growing city that functions as Tennessee’s capital and a major center for healthcare, music, publishing, and technology. The housing market in the immediate area carries elevated home values, above the state average and approaching national levels, with rents similarly high; a family considering this school should weigh the cost of living against what is available in other parts of Davidson County.
The student body is small for an elementary school, serving under two hundred students. A large majority of the enrollment is Black, with a modest share of Hispanic students and a small number of white students and students of two or more races. Information on the share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, receive special education services, or are classified as English learners was not available; those gaps make it harder to fully assess the school’s support needs and resource allocation.
On state assessments, the school’s overall proficiency across math, English language arts, and science was above the midpoint among districts in Davidson County. The numbers themselves, however, show that in math roughly one in five students scored proficient, in English language arts roughly one in four scored proficient, and in science the share was also about one in five. Social studies testing data is older and reflects a different assessment, so it is not directly comparable. These proficiency rates mean that a large majority of students are not yet meeting the state’s academic benchmarks in the core subjects. A parent considering Carter-Lawrence should look into what academic supports and interventions the school offers, particularly in math and reading, and how the school addresses gaps from the early grades.
The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report. Chronic absenteeism data was not available. No information was found on disciplinary rates, staffing ratios, or course access, all of which would help a family understand the day-to-day learning environment.
Nashville’s growth context matters here. The city has been among the fastest-growing in the country, with a metro area that now exceeds a substantial population. The consolidated city-county government was created decades ago in part to manage sprawl, and the city’s geography remains spread out, making car travel a dominant pattern for most families. The school sits in a mixed-use part of the city that includes commercial and residential areas. The district brief turned up no recent, parent-relevant changes in Metro Nashville Public Schools that would affect this school specifically, so it is not clear whether boundary adjustments, program additions, or facility upgrades are on the near horizon.
A family evaluating Carter-Lawrence Elementary will find a small, neighborhood school that serves a predominantly Black student body in a high-cost urban housing market. The academic results point to a need for significant additional support, particularly in the core tested subjects, and the available data leaves out several dimensions that would give a fuller picture of school climate and services. The school’s fit depends on how well its approach to instruction and intervention matches a given child’s needs, and a parent would benefit from visiting, talking with the principal, and asking directly about the strategies used to improve proficiency.
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