Rutherford County Schools are the 4th Largest District in Tennessee

(RUTHERFORD COUNTY, TENN.) The Rutherford County Schools wrapped up the 2021-2022 school year with 300-students shy of hitting the 50-thousand mark. On Friday, the county schools start the semester with a two-hour day, followed by their first full-day on Monday. County Schools Communications Director James Evans told WGNS they expect to have over 50-thousand students this year... Right now, the county school system is the 4th largest in Tennessee… We asked Evans if he thought Rutherford County would surpass Knox County in student enrollment…

The Rutherford County Schools are growing by about 1,200 students annually. If those numbers hold true this year, then the county schools will soon have 51,200 students. 8-Years from now, there could easily be close to 61-thousand students in the county school system.

Hear the entire 5-min. interview with James Evans of the Rutherford County Schools...

In looking at the different high schools throughout Rutherford County, the oldest, although it has changed a lot throughout the years, is Central Magnet School. Of course, it wasn’t always a magnet school. Many residents remember the school as being a middle school only, while older residents recall it being a high school only. Currently, Central Magnet School serves students in grades K through 12th.

The newest high school in the community is Rockvale High School, which also has the highest enrollment in the county at approximately 2,600-students. At the end of 2022, 457-students graduated with 48% being accepted to a 4-year university, 24% to a 2-year community college, 8% to a trade school and 2% of graduates committed to the U.S. Military.

When talking about the size of different high schools, Holloway appears to have the smallest student body with approximately 150-students. Holloway High School was recognized as one of twenty-five National Model Schools nationwide.

Largest School Districts in TN: The largest school district in Tennessee is the Memphis-Shelby County Schools, with over 110,500 students in more than 214 schools. The Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools have the second largest student body at 82,610-students last year at 163 schools. In East Tennessee, the Knox County School District is the third largest with 59,169 students in 91-public schools. Rutherford County, expecting to have over 50,000 students this upcoming school year, is just a few thousand students behind Knox County… placing Rutherford County at number 4 on the list of largest school districts in Tennessee. If Rutherford County continues to grow at a pace similar to what has been seen in the past 5-years, Rutherford may soon be switching to the number 3-position on the list of largest school districts in Tennessee. Hamilton County Schools are at number 5-on the list with just over 45-thousand students in 80-schools.

Grade Changes in TN: Newly introduced state law has changed the grading system throughout the state. This year, students will see a 10-point grading scale. The scale for those in grades 9 through 12 will be as follows… 90 to 100 = A, 80 to 89 = B, 70 to 79 = C, 60 to 69 = D. Anything graded at 59 or less is an F.