Frank Hughes School, Clifton TN - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Frank Hughes School

Frank Hughes School serves students from pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade in a single building, making it the only school in Clifton and one of the few options in rural Wayne County. Because the school covers the full K-12 span, siblings can attend the same campus from early childhood through high school graduation, and the community treats the school as a central civic hub, posting city notices there alongside the post office and City Hall.

The student body is overwhelmingly White, with small numbers of Black, Hispanic, and multiracial students. Enrollment is modest and distributed fairly evenly across grades, which means core classes remain small. A parent whose child is used to a larger, more diverse peer group may notice the difference, but the size also means students are known individually.

On the state’s TNReady assessments, results sit below statewide averages in all tested subjects. For students in grades three through eight, the share scoring proficient or above is roughly two out of every five in math, slightly more than a third in English language arts, about a third in science, and just under two-fifths in social studies. These are not strong numbers relative to the state. A parent considering this school should consider following up with the school directly to understand the academic supports in place, especially for students who need to catch up or who are aiming for competitive college admissions. The participation rate was high, so the results are a valid picture.

For the high school grades, state testing data was not available in the same format as the elementary and middle grades in the data provided, and the graduation rate was also missing. That is a gap a parent may want to explore with the school to see how upper-grade students are faring.

The school is a regular public school and not a charter. It does carry Title I status, which typically means a meaningful share of students come from low-income households. The free-or-reduced-price lunch data was not available in the materials examined for this profile.

Clifton sits on the Tennessee River and is a small town with a historic downtown. The economy leans on a state correctional facility, several manufacturers, and tourism tied to the marina and golf course. Housing values are modest compared to the state and national benchmarks, and monthly mortgage and rent estimates suggest a low cost of living. The town’s population has been slowly declining, and no major new housing developments were identified in search results. For a family, this means the school reflects a stable, slow-growth community rather than a rapidly expanding suburb.

Because Frank Hughes School is the only school in Clifton and Wayne County has a single school district that serves the entire county, the kind of within-county comparison that would place this school against neighbors is not possible; there is just one district. That isolation is itself a feature. For a family that values a small, community-anchored school where every teacher knows every student, and where the town and school are essentially inseparable, Frank Hughes School fits that mold. For a family looking for high academic proficiency rates or a wide array of advanced coursework, the test scores give reason to ask harder questions before committing.

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Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

>=80%Cohort of 24 students · Class of 2021

The federal source publishes a banded range instead of an exact rate when the graduating cohort is small enough that an exact number could risk identifying individual students.

How this school compares to all schools in this state

Each dot is one school’s SY 2020-21 graduation rate, binned by integer rate. Taller columns mean more schools at that rate. This school is highlighted.

389 schools plotted. 19 additional schools' rates are federally suppressed and not shown. Data: EDFacts SY 2020-21.

Math

Grades 3-841%

School 41% · District 22% · ▲ 19 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median

English language arts

Grades 3-836%

School 36% · District 27% · ▲ 9 pts above district

even with state median

Science

Grades 3-836%

School 36% · District 35% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▼ 7 pts below state median

Social studies

Grades 3-839%

School 39% · District 37% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▼ 1 pts below state median

This schoolWayne County, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grades 3-8Lower-income37%Higher-income36%1 pp gap

Mathematics

Grades 3-8Lower-income34%Higher-income44%10 pp gap