Photo: Kaldari / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet High School
A 7-12 academic magnet a couple miles west of downtown that regularly trades places with Hume-Fogg for the title of Tennessee's best public high school — and has been recognized nationally as one of the strongest public schools in the country.
MLK Magnet is one of MNPS's two flagship academic magnets, serving grades 7 through 12 at its 17th Avenue North campus. Like Hume-Fogg, admission runs through an academic-magnet application rather than zoned address or general lottery: applicants qualify with a national stanine score of 7 or above in reading and/or math along with strong grades, then are selected through the district's process. Starting in 7th grade rather than 9th gives the school an unusual amount of runway to build its students' academic foundation before high school proper begins.
The performance numbers are among the strongest in the state: U.S. News ranks it #85 nationally, GreatSchools gives it a 9/10 rating, and SchoolDigger consistently places it in the top handful of Tennessee high schools. Schoolwide proficiency rates — 70.4% in math and 76% in English language arts — run far above both the district and state averages. Average SAT scores land around 1270 and ACT around 28, with a 99% graduation rate and a 3.43 average GPA, and the school fields more than 20 sports alongside its Gifted & Talented programming.
With about 1,280 students, MLK is larger than Hume-Fogg but keeps a similar academic intensity, drawing families from across Davidson County who are willing to apply competitively and, in many cases, drive across town for it. For house hunters, the same rule applies as with any MNPS academic magnet: it's not a neighborhood school, so proximity to the 17th Avenue North campus doesn't guarantee a seat — the application and test-score threshold do.
Highlights
- —Ranked #85 nationally by U.S. News; regularly ranked top 5 in Tennessee
- —GreatSchools rating of 9/10, the highest of any Nashville-area public school in this guide
- —Grades 7-12; admission requires a 7th-stanine-or-higher reading/math score plus strong grades
- —Average SAT ~1270, ACT ~28, 99% graduation rate
- —20+ sports offered alongside Gifted & Talented academic programming
Insider tip
Because it starts in 7th grade, families aiming for MLK Magnet should apply through MNPS School Options during 6th grade rather than waiting until the high-school application cycle — it's a different entry point than Hume-Fogg's 9th-grade start.