Summary:
Cross Keys High School serves as the city's sole high school, while John Robert Lewis Elementary School, Montgomery Elementary School, Montclair Elementary School, and Woodward Elementary School cover elementary grades, with DeKalb PATH Academy Charter School serving as the middle school option—six schools total in the DeKalb County district, enrolling roughly 4,800 students.
The standout is Montgomery Elementary School, which ranks in the 85th percentile statewide and posts math proficiency rates of 60-72% across grades 3-5—about double the state average. Its science proficiency (64.4%) also far exceeds the state (44.2%), and chronic absenteeism is just 6.8%. By contrast, John Robert Lewis Elementary School, Montclair Elementary School, and Woodward Elementary School all rank in the bottom 10% statewide, with math proficiency hovering around 21-23% and science proficiency between 9% and 21%. At the middle school level, DeKalb PATH Academy Charter School excels in Algebra I (78.4% proficiency vs. 48.1% statewide) and has the city's lowest chronic absenteeism at 2.6%, though its 5th and 8th grade math and science scores lag state averages.
The most pressing concern is Cross Keys High School, where 43.6% of students are chronically absent—2.5 times the state rate—contributing to a 73.7% graduation rate and 8.3% dropout rate. Its end-of-course exam proficiency (Algebra I and Biology at 38.8%) trails state averages by roughly 9 points. Notably, spending does not predict success: Montgomery Elementary School spends the least per student ($17,273) yet achieves the best results, while the lower-performing elementary schools spend $2,000-$3,000 more per student. The achievement gap tracks closely with poverty levels—Montgomery has just 14.7% free/reduced lunch eligibility versus 84-88% at the other elementary schools—but DeKalb PATH Academy proves that high-poverty schools can succeed in specific areas, offering a hopeful model for targeted improvement.
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