Karns High, 2710 Byington Solway Road: grades 9-12, 1,365 students in 2024-25, state grade B. Office: 865-539-8670.

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

Karns High School is a Knox County Schools high school for grades 9 to 12 at 2710 Byington Solway Road in Knoxville. The school has a Knoxville mailing address but sits outside the city limits, in unincorporated Knox County.

Karns High has served the community since 1913, according to its About Us page.

Who to call
Address 2710 Byington Solway Road, Knoxville, TN 37931
Phone 865-539-8670
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 6, Region 2
Students, 2024-25 (state count) 1,365
State letter grade, 2024-25 B

Principal

Principal Laicee Hatfield, according to the school’s About Us page.

Enrollment and teachers

  • State count: 1,365 students in the 2024-25 school year, in the Tennessee Department of Education’s school profile file.
  • Federal count: 1,341 students in the 2023-24 school year, with 89 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.

Karns High earned a B for 2024-25, the latest grades published, with an overall score of 3.5 out of 5 in the state’s letter grade file.

Indicator Score (1 to 5)
Achievement 4
Growth 3
Growth of highest-need students 3
College and career readiness 3
Overall success rate, all students, 2024-25 tests 35.4%

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 31.7% 306
English II 57.5% 334
Algebra I 10.2% 293
Geometry 35.6% 298
Algebra II 27.3% 286
Biology 57.2% 278
U.S. history 46.9% 213
  • Graduation rate, class of 2025: 88.6% (311 of 351 students), in the state’s graduation rate file.
  • ACT, 2024-25: average composite score 18.3; 30.7% of 309 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 Karns 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. About 17% of the zone’s area lies inside Knoxville city limits, according to our comparison of the district zone map and city limits published on KGIS; most of it is unincorporated Knox County.

From the district’s feeder pattern list, Karns High draws from Bearden Middle, Hardin Valley Middle, Karns Middle and Northwest 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. The school also has optional early instruction at 7 a.m. Monday through Friday.

Sports and activities

Karns High plays football in Class 5A, Region 2 for 2026-27, according to the TSSAA’s current alignments, with Campbell County, Clinton, Central, Halls, Powell, West and William Blount. In basketball it is in Class 4A, District 3, with Campbell County, Central, Halls, Powell and West.

The school’s athletics page lists baseball, boys and girls basketball, bowling, cheerleading, cross country, dance, 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 Karns High School serve?

Karns High serves grades 9 to 12. It is a Knox County Schools campus at 2710 Byington Solway Road, Knoxville; the main office number is 865-539-8670.

What is Karns High’s state letter grade?

Karns High earned a B in Tennessee’s 2024-25 school letter grades, with an overall score of 3.5 out of 5, according to the Tennessee Department of Education.

What time does Karns 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 Karns High in for football?

Karns High plays in Class 5A, Region 2, in the TSSAA’s 2026-27 football alignment.