McKenzie Receives Reward School Designation

In November, 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. Several Carroll County schools received Reward School designations, with McKenzie receiving its third designation in five years.

McKenzie Special School District was recognized as an Advancing District for the 2024-25 school year, and McKenzie High School received a Reward School designation. In the past five years, the school has received the Reward School designation three times: in 2020-2021, 2022-2023 and 2024-2025.

“We are extremely proud of our staff and students for the recognition and hard work,” said McKenzie High School Principal Kelly Spivey.

In the county, West Carroll, South Carroll and Hollow Rock-Bruceton special school districts also had Advancing District Reward Schools. Huntingdon Special School District was a Satisfactory District.

Across the state, the number of Reward Schools increased from 377 in 2023–24 to 459 in 2024-25, representing a 22 percent increase. 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.

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. 

Across the state, fourteen districts received Exemplary designation. Districts designated as “Exemplary” received an overall score equal to or greater than 3.1.

100 districts received Advancing designation. Districts designated for “Advancing” received an overall score equal to or greater than 2.1 but less than 3.1.

Twenty-one districts received Satisfactory designation. Districts designated as “Satisfactory” received an overall score equal to or greater than 1.1 but less than 2.1.

None of the districts received Marginal designation. Districts designated as “Marginal” received an overall score of less than 1.1.

Eight Tennessee districts received In Need of Improvement designation. Districts receive an “In Need of Improvement” determination if their overall score falls in the bottom five percent of all districts.