@DrJimmySullivan
Pinned post
Tennessee family creates 'Asher's Animals' to honor 10-year-old son who died after storm drain accident, donating stuffed animals to hospitalized children. newschannel5.com/news/state/ten…View quoted post on X
Seven consecutive years at the top: Rutherford County Schools maintains Level 5 status
#TheRCSdifference: District, 37 schools attain state’s highest student performance designation
November 12, 2026
Rutherford County Schools and a record 37 of its individual schools have attained Level 5 status for student performance for the 2025-2026 academic school year, according to information released today by the Tennessee Department of Education.
This marks the seventh consecutive year the district has achieved Level 5 recognition, the highest possible rating. Rankings are based on student performance on the TCAP assessments, which are administered each spring.
"Rutherford County Schools continues to show exceptional academic growth earning the highest possible score of a 5 in all subject areas," said Director of Schools Dr. Jimmy Sullivan. "Additionally, we have 37 of our schools who earned an overall Level 5 which surpasses last year’s record of 32."
Dr. Sullivan noted that RCS is one of the largest school districts in the nation with a constantly changing student population because of rapid local growth.
"As a school district, we cannot control the academic performance of when a student enters our schools, but we expect that each child will grow academically at least one year each and every year," Sullivan added. "TVAAS growth is the measure for that expectation and we are so proud of the collective effort of our students, parents, families, administrators, and the amazing work of our teachers and staff."
School districts are ranked on a scale of one to five to measure annual student academic growth. A ranking of three indicates a student has achieved one year of academic growth, while a four or five shows they have grown by more than a full year.
The number of RCS schools receiving Level 5 status has grown from 19 schools in 2021-2022, to 26 in 2022-2023, to 32 in both 2023-2024 and 2024-2025.
In the 2025-2026 academic year, 47 of 49 eligible RCS schools earned a ranking of three or higher.
Full list of Level 5 schools:
- Barfield Elementary School
- Blackman High School
- Blackman Middle School
- Brown’s Chapel Elementary School
- Buchanan Elementary
- Cedar Grove Elementary School
- Central Magnet School
- Christiana Elementary School
- Eagleville School
- Homer Pittard Campus School
- Kittrell Elementary School
- LaVergne High School
- LaVergne Lake Elementary School
- LaVergne Middle School
- McFadden School of Excellence
- Oakland High School
- Oakland Middle School
- Plainview Elementary School
- Poplar Hill Elementary School
- Riverdale High School
- Rockvale Elementary School
- Rockvale High School
- Rockvale Middle School
- Rocky Fork Elementary School
- Rocky Fork Middle School
- Siegel High School
- Smyrna Elementary School
- Smyrna High School
- Smyrna Middle School
- Stewarts Creek Elementary School
- Stewarts Creek High School
- Stewarts Creek Middle School
- Stewartsboro Elementary School
- Thurman Francis Arts Academy
- Walter Hill Elementary School
- Whitworth-Buchanan Middle School
- Wilson Elementary SchoolView quoted post on X
