John Early Middle School, 1000 Cass St.: grades 6-8, 136 students in 2024-25, state letter grade C.

Last checked Oct. 19, 2026. Sources: John Early Middle, Metro Nashville Public Schools’ school directory, 2026-27 pathways chart (PDF), district calendar, school start times and zone finder, the Tennessee Department of Education’s State Report Card, 2024-25 letter grade and school profile files and spring 2026 test file and the federal NCES school directory.

John Early Middle School is a Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) middle school serving sixth grade through eighth grade, in the Pearl-Cohn cluster in the Northwest quadrant of the district. MNPS lists it among its magnet schools.

  • Address: 1000 Cass St., Nashville, TN 37208
  • Main office: 615-291-6369
  • Grades: 6-8
  • School hours: 8:55 a.m. to 3:55 p.m., according to the district’s 2026-27 start times
  • Website: johnearly.mnps.org

Who to call

  • Front office: 615-291-6369
  • Enrolling a new student: the school, or the Pearl-Cohn Enrollment Center at McKissack Middle School, 915 38th Ave. N., 615-329-8170, option 4, open 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. weekdays (all eight centers); MNPS Family Information Center 615-259-4636
  • Checking a zone: the MNPS zone finder
  • Buses: MNPS Transportation, 615-259-4636; the district says students who attend their zoned school and live more than 1.25 miles away (1.5 miles for high schools) can ride the bus

Principal

Principal Jeremiah Riggs, according to the school’s website.

Enrollment

The federal NCES directory counted 169 students in the 2023-24 school year, with 16 full-time-equivalent teachers, about 11 students per teacher. The Tennessee Department of Education’s 2024-25 school profile file has a newer count of 136 students.

State report card

Tennessee grades every public school A to F. The department says School Letter Grades give “a snapshot of how each school in the state is performing, including student achievement and academic growth measures for all schools, as well as a measure of college and career readiness just for high schools.”

From the state’s 2024-25 letter grade file:

Measure John Early Middle
Overall letter grade, 2024-25 C (score 2.9 of 5)
Achievement grade F
Academic growth grade A
Growth of the lowest-scoring 25% of students B
Overall success rate on state tests, 2024-25 10.7%

The state’s spring 2026 test file has the share of John Early Middle students in tested grades who met or exceeded expectations on TCAP: 13.3% in English language arts, 9.1% in math, 16.5% in science and 16.5% in social studies. The 2025-26 letter grades have not been published yet.

The State Report Card page for John Early Middle holds the full detail: results by grade and subject, chronic absenteeism and results for each group of students.

Attendance zone and feeder schools

MNPS attendance zones do not follow neighborhood lines. Check an address in the zone finder, which shows the zoned elementary, middle and high school, or see the district’s Pearl-Cohn cluster map (PDF) and the other maps on its district maps page.

On the district’s 2026-27 pathways chart (PDF), John Early Middle takes students from Jones Elementary and Robert Churchwell Elementary and feeds Pearl-Cohn High.

As a magnet school, John Early Middle also takes students from outside its zone through the district’s School Options application.

Calendar and school hours

The MNPS 2026-27 district calendar has these dates next:

  • Thursday, Oct. 22: report cards issued
  • Tuesday, Nov. 3: parent conference day, no school for students
  • Wednesday, Nov. 11: Veterans Day, district closed
  • Nov. 23-27: Thanksgiving break (district closed Nov. 26-27)
  • Friday, Dec. 18: half day; the second quarter ends
  • Dec. 21 to Jan. 1: winter break
  • March 22-26, 2027: spring break and the spring holiday
  • Tuesday, May 25, 2027: last day for students, a half day

The school day runs 8:55 a.m. to 3:55 p.m., according to the district’s 2026-27 school start times; the school kept its schedule when the district adjusted start times for 2026-27.

More

Frequently asked questions

What grades does John Early Middle serve?

Sixth grade through eighth grade. The school is at 1000 Cass St. in Nashville; the main office number is 615-291-6369.

What is John Early Middle’s state report card grade?

John Early Middle received a C overall in Tennessee’s 2024-25 School Letter Grades, according to the Tennessee Department of Education.

Which high school does John Early Middle feed into?

Pearl-Cohn High, according to MNPS’s 2026-27 pathways chart. Check an address in the MNPS zone finder.

What time does John Early Middle start?

School runs from 8:55 a.m. to 3:55 p.m., according to the district’s 2026-27 school start times.