TDOE Announces School and District Designations for 2024-25 School Year

Friday, November 21, 2025 | 02:30pm

459 Schools Across Tennessee Earned Reward School Designation

Nashville, TN— Today, the Tennessee Department of Education announced state school and district designations for the 2024-25 school year, including Reward schools, Exemplary districts, and In Need of Improvement districts. These designations are based on various performance indicators, including student achievement and growth. 

Across the state, the number of Reward schools increased from 377 in 2023–24 to 459 in 2024-25, representing a 22 percent increase. At the district level, the number of Exemplary districts increased from 10 in 2023–24 to 14 in 2024–25, reflecting a 40 percent increase. The number of In Need of Improvement districts decreased from nine in 2023–24 to eight in 2024–25, reflecting an 11 percent decrease. The complete list of district and school designations is available on the department‘s accountability webpage.

“Because of the dedication of Tennessee district, charter, and school leaders, along with our outstanding educators, we are proud to see their hard work demonstrated in these results," said Lizzette Reynolds, Commissioner of Education. “Congratulations to the 459 Reward schools and the 14 Exemplary districts for reaching this incredible milestone.”

Each year, schools and districts are eligible for designations based on their overall performance across indicators that are essential to student success, including how they prepared students to be proficient (achievement), accelerated student learning (growth), encouraged students to attend school regularly (chronically out of school), prepared students for postsecondary success (graduation rate and Ready Graduate), and supported English learners acquiring language skills.

Schools are recognized as a Reward school when they demonstrate high levels of performance and/or improvement in performance by meeting objectives across performance indicators and student groups, and the Reward school distinction places significant emphasis on performance and improvement across all indicators from the prior school year. 

Districts are recognized as an Exemplary District when they receive an overall district performance score of 3.1 or higher on a 4.0-point scale across all performance indicators as referenced above. The following are the 14 designated Exemplary districts:

  • Alamo City School
  • Alvin C. York Institute
  • Arlington Community Schools
  • Bells City Schools
  • Franklin Special School District 
  • Germantown Municipal Schools
  • Greeneville City Schools
  • Newport City School
  • Perry County Schools
  • Putnam County Schools
  • Richard City Special School District
  • Rogersville City School
  • Tennessee Charter Commission
  • Union City Schools

Reward schools, Exemplary districts, and In Need of Improvement districts were presented to the State Board of Education on November 21 and received approval. All designations can be found on the department’s accountability page.

For Tennessee Department of Education media inquiries, contact Edu.MediaInquiries@tn.gov. 

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