Northwest Middle, 5301 Pleasant Ridge Road: grades 6-8, 798 students in 2024-25, state grade C. Office: 865-594-1345.
Last checked Oct. 18, 2026. Sources: northwestms.knoxschools.org, Knox County Schools, the Tennessee Department of Education’s State Report Card and data files and the NCES school directory.
Northwest Middle School is a Knox County Schools middle school for grades 6 to 8 at 5301 Pleasant Ridge Road in Knoxville. The school is inside Knoxville city limits.
Northwest Middle describes itself as the only AVID national demonstration school in Tennessee, according to its About Us page.
Who to call
- Front office: 865-594-1345, 5301 Pleasant Ridge Road, Knoxville, TN 37912
- School website: northwestms.knoxschools.org
- Enrolling a new student: enrollment happens at the zoned school; questions go to the Knox County Schools Office of Enrollment and Transfers, 865-594-1502, according to the district’s enrollment page
- Buses: Knox County Schools Transportation, 865-594-1550, or the Daily Bus Report
- District central office: 865-594-1800
| Address | 5301 Pleasant Ridge Road, Knoxville, TN 37912 |
| Phone | 865-594-1345 |
| Grades | 6 to 8 |
| 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) | 798 |
| State letter grade, 2024-25 | C |
Principal
Principal Joann Gardner, according to the school’s About Us page.
Enrollment and teachers
- State count: 798 students in the 2024-25 school year, in the Tennessee Department of Education’s school profile file.
- Federal count: 808 students in the 2023-24 school year, with 64 full-time-equivalent teachers, according to the NCES directory. That works out to about 13 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.
Northwest Middle earned a C for 2024-25, the latest grades published, with an overall score of 2.7 out of 5 in the state’s letter grade file.
| Indicator | Score (1 to 5) |
|---|---|
| Achievement | 2 |
| Growth | 3 |
| Growth of highest-need students | 5 |
| Overall success rate, all students, 2024-25 tests | 19.1% |
The state’s 2025 accountability designation for the school is Comprehensive Support and Improvement, according to its State Report Card page.
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 language arts | 17.6% | 824 |
| Math | 18% | 795 |
| Science | 26% | 823 |
| Social studies | 29.3% | 823 |
The full report, with chronic absence and results by student group, is on the State Report Card page for Northwest Middle.
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 94% 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; the rest is unincorporated Knox County.
From the district’s feeder pattern list, students come to Northwest Middle from Amherst Elementary, Beaumont Magnet Academy, Lonsdale Elementary, Norwood Elementary, Pleasant Ridge Elementary, Pond Gap Elementary, West Haven Elementary and West View Elementary, some of them only in part, and go on to West High, Karns High, Powell High, Central High and Fulton High.
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)
The school day runs 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and half days 8:30 a.m. to noon, according to the district’s school schedules page.
More on Knoxville schools
- The school’s website and the Knox County Schools list of schools
- Every public school in Knoxville
- Our Knoxville schools guide for enrollment documents, the full calendar and school board meetings
Frequently asked questions
What grades does Northwest Middle School serve?
Northwest Middle serves grades 6 to 8. It is a Knox County Schools campus at 5301 Pleasant Ridge Road, Knoxville; the main office number is 865-594-1345.
What is Northwest Middle’s state letter grade?
Northwest Middle earned a C in Tennessee’s 2024-25 school letter grades, with an overall score of 2.7 out of 5, according to the Tennessee Department of Education.
Which high school does Northwest Middle feed into?
Northwest Middle feeds West High, Karns High, Powell High, Central High and Fulton High, depending on the address, according to the Knox County Schools feeder pattern list.
What time does Northwest Middle start?
The school day runs 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., according to the Knox County Schools school schedules page.
Have your say