Carter High, 210 N. Carter School Road: grades 9-12, 749 students in 2024-25, state grade B. Office: 865-933-3434.

Last checked Oct. 18, 2026. Sources: carterhs.knoxschools.org, Knox County Schools, the Tennessee Department of Education’s State Report Card and data files, the NCES school directory and the TSSAA.

Carter High School is a Knox County Schools high school for grades 9 to 12 at 210 N. Carter School Road in Strawberry Plains. The school is in unincorporated Knox County with a Strawberry Plains mailing address, outside Knoxville city limits, but its attendance zone takes in part of the city.

Carter High School has served the Strawberry Plains community since it opened in 1915, according to its About Us page.

Who to call
Address 210 N. Carter School Road, Strawberry Plains, TN 37871
Phone 865-933-3434
Grades 9 to 12
School day 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
District Knox County Schools
School board district and KCS region District 8, Region 3
Students, 2024-25 (state count) 749
State letter grade, 2024-25 B

Principal

Principal Steve Killian, according to the school’s About Us page.

Enrollment and teachers

  • State count: 749 students in the 2024-25 school year, in the Tennessee Department of Education’s school profile file.
  • Federal count: 794 students in the 2023-24 school year, with 53 full-time-equivalent teachers, according to the NCES directory. That works out to about 15 students per teacher.

State report card

Tennessee gives most public schools an A-F letter grade. The Department of Education says the grades are meant “to provide a snapshot of how each school performed during the previous academic year,” according to its school letter grades page. The grade combines indicators scored from 1 to 5: student achievement, academic growth, growth of the highest-need students and, for high schools, college and career readiness.

Carter High earned a B for 2024-25, the latest grades published, with an overall score of 3.8 out of 5 in the state’s letter grade file.

Indicator Score (1 to 5)
Achievement 4
Growth 4
Growth of highest-need students 3
College and career readiness 3
Overall success rate, all students, 2024-25 tests 32.6%

Spring 2026 TCAP tests (share of students who met or exceeded expectations, all grades, from the state’s 2026 school assessment file):

Subject Met or exceeded Valid tests
English I 23.9% 176
English II 57% 149
Geometry 35.1% 148
Algebra II 22.4% 170
Biology 39.2% 158
U.S. history 35.3% 136
  • Graduation rate, class of 2025: 88.8% (175 of 197 students), in the state’s graduation rate file.
  • ACT, 2024-25: average composite score 18; 28.3% of 166 test takers scored 21 or higher, per the state ACT file.

The full report, with chronic absence and results by student group, is on the State Report Card page for Carter High.

Attendance zone and feeder schools

Check any address with the KGIS school zone search, the lookup Knox County Schools sends families to. Zones do not follow city limits. Only a small part of the zone, about 5% of its area, lies inside Knoxville city limits, according to our comparison of the district zone map and city limits published on KGIS.

From the district’s feeder pattern list, Carter High draws from Carter Middle and Holston Middle, some of them only in part.

Families who want a school outside their zone apply for a transfer. The priority window for the 2027-28 school year opened Oct. 1, 2026, and closes at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2027; a final window runs April 1 to June 1, 2027. Seats depend on space, are assigned by lottery-style numbers within priority groups, and transfer students get no bus service, according to the district’s transfer page.

Calendar and bell times

From the Knox County Schools 2026-27 calendar:

  • Tuesday, Nov. 3: in-service day, no school for students
  • Wednesday, Nov. 18: half day for students
  • Nov. 25-27: Thanksgiving holidays, schools closed
  • Friday, Dec. 18: half day; end of the first semester
  • Dec. 21 to Jan. 1: winter break; students return Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2027
  • March 8-12, 2027: spring break
  • Wednesday, May 26, 2027: last day for students (half day)

Regular days run 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and half days end at noon, according to the district’s school schedules page.

Sports and activities

Carter High plays football in Class 4A, Region 2 for 2026-27, according to the TSSAA’s current alignments, with Alcoa, Anderson County, Fulton, Gibbs, Heritage, South-Doyle and Union County. In basketball it is in Class 3A, District 3, with Austin-East, Cocke County, Fulton, Northview Academy and Seymour.

The school’s athletics page lists baseball, boys and girls basketball, bowling, cheerleading, cross country, fishing, football, girls flag football, golf, boys and girls soccer, softball, tennis, track and field, volleyball and wrestling.

Follow the season on our Friday night football page and the high school scoreboard.

More on Knoxville schools

Frequently asked questions

What grades does Carter High School serve?

Carter High serves grades 9 to 12. It is a Knox County Schools campus at 210 N. Carter School Road, Strawberry Plains; the main office number is 865-933-3434.

What is Carter High’s state letter grade?

Carter High earned a B in Tennessee’s 2024-25 school letter grades, with an overall score of 3.8 out of 5, according to the Tennessee Department of Education.

What time does Carter High start?

The school day runs 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., according to the Knox County Schools school schedules page.

What classification is Carter High in for football?

Carter High plays in Class 4A, Region 2, in the TSSAA’s 2026-27 football alignment.