Elementary School Reform
Nearly 20,000 students attend 46 elementary school sites in Hamilton County with an average student-teacher ratio of 19 to 1 in Kindergarten through third grade and 23 to 1 in the upper grades.
Three Hamilton County elementary schools and one K-8 school have been honored as National Schools of Excellence.
Through the nationally acclaimed Benwood Initiative, a $9 million reform initiative from the Benwood Foundation and the Public Education Foundation, Hamilton County Schools dramatically increased student achievement at the eight elementary schools with the greatest challenges in the county, while closing the achievement gap.
In 2007, the District partnered again with the Benwood Foundation and PEF for Benwood II, expanding this successful initiative to an additional eight elementary schools located across the county. The expansion initiative will continue to target literacy and teacher effectiveness along with math instruction and staff development. The goal of the expansion grant is to spread the reform work to all elementary schools.
All Hamilton County, elementary schools continue to make great gains in student achievement with more than 90% of students scoring proficient or advanced in reading and math. Seven elementary schools scored straight A's in Academic Achievement and Academic Growth on the 2007 Tennessee Schools Report Card. Another 24 elementary schools received straight A's in Academic Growth, indicating exceptional student progress from one year to the next.
The District’s third grade proficiency reading scores, a benchmark identified by a community literacy initiative that seeks to have 95% of all third graders reading at or above grade level by 2010, are also increasing. This progress gives rise to a generation of students with a greater chance for success, indicating elementary reform efforts are paying off.