The top reported proficiency rate is 52% in Math. The lowest is 22% in Social studies.
Original Research by School Decision on Jo Byrns Elementary School
Jo Byrns Elementary School is a regular public school serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in Cedar Hill, a very small rural community in northwestern Robertson County, Tennessee. The town’s history is rooted in agriculture, particularly tobacco, and its population has declined over the decades after interstate construction diverted through traffic. Today Cedar Hill is described as a close-knit community with a rural landscape and a government that employs just one person. The school sits near the town center and shares its name with Jo Byrns, a former Speaker of the U.S. House who was born in Cedar Hill.
Academically, the school participates in Tennessee’s TNReady assessments, which are administered in grades three through eight. In the most recent testing year, just over half of tested students scored at the proficient or above level in math. In English language arts, the proficiency rate was lower, with somewhat more than a third of students meeting the standard. Science results were similar to ELA. These figures represent a single snapshot; the school did not have recent social studies data available that would be comparable due to changes in the assessment. Because Robertson County is the only district in the county, no comparative positioning against neighboring districts was possible. A parent interested in how the school’s performance trends over time may want to seek additional context from the district or school leadership, as multi-year data was not provided.
The student body is predominantly white, with a modest share of Hispanic students and smaller numbers of Black students and students of two or more races. The school had no reported data on the share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price meals, nor on students with disabilities or English learners. Those gaps mean that a full picture of the school’s support needs and resource allocation is not available from the public data reviewed here.
Cedar Hill offers limited street life. The built environment is low-density and rural, with a single city park that includes a paved walking trail, basketball court, softball field, and playground. City Hall doubles as a local history museum. A monthly farmers market runs from spring through early fall. The nearest larger town is Springfield, the county seat, a short drive to the southeast. Home values in the school’s zip code area are above both the state and national medians, and the estimated cost of homeownership exceeds typical rents, suggesting that buying may be less affordable than renting for many families.
At the district level, Robertson County voters approved a school bond referendum in 2024 to fund a new elementary school, along with expansions and renovations of existing schools and district-wide security and technology upgrades. That property-tax-backed investment will directly shape school capacity and facilities in the years ahead, including potentially at Jo Byrns Elementary. The school itself serves a modest enrollment across grades PK through five, with the largest class being fifth grade. As an elementary school, it does not have a graduation rate, and no chronic absenteeism or discipline data were reported. A family considering this school should weigh its academic profile, the rural setting and small-town pace, and the district’s recent commitment to capital improvements.
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