The top reported proficiency rate is 42% in English language arts. The lowest is 29% in Social studies.
Original Research by School Decision on North Stewart Elementary
Big Rock is a very small, unincorporated community in rural Stewart County, and North Stewart Elementary serves as its local public school for students in prekindergarten through fifth grade. The school is a regular public school within the Stewart County district.
The community itself has no downtown or commercial core. Homes here are owner-occupied, and the local economy is primarily agricultural. Residents commute to nearby Dover, the county seat, or farther to Clarksville for most employment, shopping, and civic services. The area near Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area provides outdoor recreation. Publicly reported information describes the terrain as scenic, with a small and stable housing stock. There is no evidence of significant new development.
North Stewart Elementary had an enrollment that is modest-sized for an elementary school. The student body is predominantly white, with a small share of Hispanic students and very small numbers of students identifying as two or more races or American Indian or Alaska Native. Data on the share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch was not available. Information on students with disabilities and English learners was also not reported.
On Tennessee’s state assessments, the school’s proficiency rates across tested subjects fell in a range that families should weigh carefully. In both math and English language arts, the share of students scoring at the proficient level or above was slightly over two-fifths. In science, it was just over one-third. Social studies data was available only from a prior test administration and reflected a lower rate. Participation in testing was very high, which gives the results a solid basis. These outcomes suggest that a meaningful portion of students are meeting grade-level expectations, but a majority are not, a pattern a parent may want to discuss with the school to understand the support available for students who are below that mark.
Because North Stewart Elementary serves only elementary grades, there is no graduation rate to report, and the district-level comparison for the county could not produce a meaningful ranking since Stewart County has only a single school district. The school’s academic context is therefore best understood against the state averages rather than against local peers.
The district brief found little in the way of recent policy or budget changes to report, so a parent looking for a sense of direction from the central office may need to seek out information directly from Stewart County Schools.
For a family considering this school, the central considerations are grounded in the rural setting and the academic profile. The community offers a quiet, agricultural environment with limited local amenities. The school’s performance in Tennessee’s tested subjects shows a gap between current outcomes and the state’s proficiency standard, particularly in math and science. A parent would want to ask about intervention programs, the school’s approach to bringing students up to grade level, and how the school communicates progress to families. There is no data on course access, staffing ratios, or discipline that could round out this picture, so those would be areas for direct inquiry.
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