Summary:
The city of Athens, Georgia is home to 4 middle schools serving grades 6-8: Burney-Harris-Lyons Middle School, Clarke Middle School, Hilsman Middle School, and Coile Middle School. These schools vary in their academic performance, demographics, and resource allocation, with Burney-Harris-Lyons Middle School and Clarke Middle School standing out as the top performers in the Clarke County district.
Burney-Harris-Lyons Middle School consistently outperforms the district and state averages on Milestones Assessments, particularly in Algebra I and Mathematics, with an impressive 94.4% of students proficient or better in Algebra I. Clarke Middle School also performs well above average in Algebra I, English Language Arts, and Mathematics, and ranks the highest among the Athens middle schools in the statewide SchoolDigger rankings at 3 out of 5 stars.
In contrast, Hilsman Middle School and Coile Middle School struggle with lower proficiency rates on Milestones Assessments and have significantly higher percentages of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch, suggesting a correlation between socioeconomic status and academic performance. While Hilsman Middle School has the highest spending per student, this does not translate to the best outcomes, indicating that simply increasing funding may not be the sole solution to improving performance in these schools.
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