The top reported proficiency rate is 82% in Math. The lowest is 67% in Social studies.
Original Research by School Decision on Capshaw Elementary
Capshaw Elementary serves students from prekindergarten through fourth grade in Cookeville, Tennessee, part of the Putnam County school district. This is a regular public school with a sizable enrollment for an early-elementary building. The student population is predominantly white, with smaller shares of Hispanic students, Asian students, and Black students. Data on the share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price meals, as well as the share with individualized education programs or English-learner status, was not available in this profile.
The school's academic performance on Tennessee's state assessments is the clearest signal available for families weighing this option. On the math portion, a large majority of students scored at the proficient level or above. In English language arts, a similarly strong share of students reached that bar. On the science assessment, the pattern held. These results run above what many elementary schools in the state produce, and they suggest that the school's core instruction, at least as measured during the 2024-25 school year, is working well for most students. The social studies test data is older and from a prior assessment framework, so it does not offer a current comparison.
Because Capshaw is a pre-K through fourth-grade school, there is no graduation rate, no advanced coursework data, and no chronic absenteeism figures to report. That is not a gap in school quality—it simply reflects the grade band. A parent looking for middle or high school outcomes would need to look at the downstream schools in the Putnam County system.
The school sits in Cookeville, a city that functions as a regional hub for the Upper Cumberland area. Tennessee Technological University is here, along with a major medical center, and the city’s daily population swells with commuters from surrounding counties. The built environment mixes a historic downtown with suburban-style corridors. Housing in the zip code reflects a market that has seen modest price appreciation in recent years, and rents have eased slightly. For a family moving to the area, the housing costs are somewhat below the national average, and the local unemployment rate has been relatively stable.
The district itself, Putnam County Schools, does not have any widely reported major changes or new initiatives surfaced in the recent record, so a parent may want to check directly with the district office for updates on programming, boundaries, or strategic plans. No comparison data against other Putnam County districts is available because Capshaw is the only school-level entity in that county that matches the comparison criteria, so families looking to weigh this school against other local options may need to rely on individual school profiles and state report cards rather than a district-level ranking.
For a family seeking a school that delivers strong academic fundamentals at the elementary level, Capshaw shows evidence of consistent, high proficiency across the core tested subjects. The student body is relatively homogeneous, and the school serves a fairly young population in a city that is growing rapidly, with annexation, new housing permits, and infrastructure investments underway. This is a school that fits a parent looking for a straightforward elementary program in a growing regional hub, where the academic numbers are clear and the surrounding community is expanding. The missing pieces, such as information on special education services, English learner support, and discipline, are worth following up on with the school directly before making a decision.
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