Best Public Schools in Duluth, GA

The city of Duluth, Georgia, is served by 20 schools spanning elementary through high school, including traditional public schools, charter schools, and a virtual academy, across four districts: Gwinnett County, Fulton County, and two state specialty districts.

Duluth presents a striking contrast in school performance. The Fulton County schools are among the best in Georgia: Wilson Creek Elementary School ranks in the 99th percentile statewide, Abbotts Hill Elementary School posts 90.6% 4th-grade math proficiency, River Trail Middle School ranks #3 in Georgia with 100% Algebra I proficiency, and Northview High School boasts a 98% graduation rate. Meanwhile, Gwinnett County schools range widely. Hull Middle School and Coleman Middle School are strong performers (86th and 83rd percentiles), while Radloff Middle School ranks in the 14th percentile with math proficiency around 20%. Duluth High School sits near the state average for graduation (86.9%) but struggles with a 29.7% chronic absenteeism rate—nearly double the state average.

Several patterns stand out for parents. Middle schools in Gwinnett County show an "Algebra I anomaly": Duluth Middle School has 95.7% Algebra I proficiency but only 30.9-38.5% in grade-level math, suggesting strong acceleration programs for top students while many others struggle. Science is a relative bright spot even in lower-performing schools—New Life Academy of Excellence posts 62.1% 5th-grade science proficiency versus the 44.2% state average. Chronic absenteeism is a reliable predictor of performance: the top schools (Abbotts Hill, Wilson Creek, River Trail) all have rates under 4%, while struggling schools exceed 20%. Finally, Georgia Connections Academy, the virtual school, faces significant challenges with a 65.4% graduation rate and math proficiency in the 19-30% range, though its per-student spending is the lowest in the dataset at $9,150.