Here’s what happened to the original 69 priority schools in Memphis

When Tennessee issued its first list of “priority schools” — the lowest-performing 5 percent of schools in the state — Memphis emerged as the battleground for school turnaround work.

The city was home to 69 of the 83 schools identified by the Tennessee Department of Education in 2012 as eligible for intervention by the state-run Achievement School District or inclusion in a local Innovation Zone.

Almost four years later, only 15 of the original schools are still operating without such intervention. Twenty-three have been taken over by the ASD, 18 have been moved into Shelby County Schools’ iZone, and 13 have been either closed or consolidated with other schools.

In 2017, the Education Department will issue its third priority school list after releasing its “cusp list” this year of schools currently in the bottom 10 percent, putting them in danger of making next year’s list.

Here is the status of each Memphis school in the original 69. You can sort them by school name, year or action taken by Shelby County Schools or the Achievement School District.

A few helpful notes:

** = no iZone or ASD intervention or closure

N/A = schools do not have enough data to be considered on 2016 warning list


Corrections & clarifications, June 6, 2016: This chart clarifies from a previous version that Shannon Elementary transitioned to the ASD in 2013 before it was closed by Shelby County Schools in 2014, and notes that the school is now KIPP Memphis Academy Elementary.

Corrections, August 18, 2016: This chart has been updated from a previous version to show the correct year in which the following schools closed: Cypress Middle, Georgia Avenue Elementary, Graves Elementary, Norris Elementary, Vance Middle and White’s Chapel Elementary.