The top reported proficiency rate is 28% in Social studies. The lowest is 14% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Lead Cameron
LEAD Cameron is a public charter school in Nashville serving students in fifth through eighth grade. It belongs to Davidson County and sits in the southern part of the city, near the Cumberland River and within a short distance of downtown. As a charter school, it operates independently of the local district but remains publicly funded and open to all students in the county through an application process.
State testing results from the most recent school year paint a picture of a school where academic proficiency is a challenge. On the TNReady assessments, just under one in five students scored at the proficient or advanced level in math, and a smaller share did so in English language arts. Science and social studies showed somewhat higher rates, with roughly a quarter of students meeting the bar in each subject. These figures are well below the state average, and a parent looking at this data will see that the school has room to grow. At the same time, the school’s combined proficiency across all tested subjects placed it above the midpoint among the districts in Davidson County for which data was available, meaning that relative to local peers serving similar student populations, it is not the lowest-performing option. However, the cohort of districts with comparable data is small, and the range was wide.
The student body is predominantly Hispanic and Black, with a much smaller number of white students and even fewer Asian, multiracial, or Native American students. The school serves nearly five hundred students, with the majority concentrated in sixth through eighth grade and a relatively small fifth-grade class. Data on the share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, receive special education services, or are identified as English learners were not reported, which is a notable gap for families trying to understand the level of need and support resources at the school. One piece that is clear: all students participated in state testing, reflecting full compliance.
Because LEAD Cameron covers only middle grades, it has no graduation rate to report. Information on course offerings, advanced or honors classes, career and technical education, and extracurricular programs was also absent from the available data, so families would need to seek that directly from the school or its website to understand what pathways exist beyond the core curriculum.
The school sits in Nashville, a fast-growing capital city with a large, diverse economy anchored by healthcare, music, publishing, and technology. The housing market in the area reflects that growth: home values in the broader Nashville market are modestly above the national median, though recent data showed a slight year-over-year dip. Rents have risen, and the cost of monthly rent is notably lower than the estimated mortgage payment for a median-priced home, a pattern that suggests renting is the more common and affordable choice for many households. The city’s unemployment rate is low, and median household income has trended upward in recent years. These economic conditions matter to a family weighing school options because they shape the broader community context, but they do not speak directly to the school’s budget or the financial resources available to its students.
The district, Davidson County, which encompasses all of Metro Nashville, did not have any major parent-facing changes reported in recent years, so the operating context around LEAD Cameron appears stable from a district policy standpoint. The school itself is classified as a regular school, not a special-purpose or alternative program, so its academic results are measured against the same state standards as all other traditional public schools.
For a family considering LEAD Cameron, the central conversation will be about fit. The school serves a predominantly Hispanic and Black middle-grade population in a city that is growing and economically dynamic. Its academic results are low in absolute terms but competitive within a local district comparison. A parent should want to investigate what supports are in place for students who are not yet proficient, whether the school offers tutoring, intervention blocks, or extended learning time, and what the school’s culture and safety record look like. Without data on discipline, attendance, or staffing, those are open questions the school itself would need to answer.
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