Schools in Rex, GA

Rex, Georgia is home to three public schools within the Clayton County School District, serving elementary and middle school students (PK-8) in a high-poverty area where 100% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch. The standout story here is Roberta T. Smith Elementary School, which has made a dramatic turnaround, jumping from the 8th percentile to the 32nd percentile in state rankings over two years and earning a 2-star rating. Its chronic absenteeism rate of 9.6% is remarkably better than both the district (28%) and state (17.7%) averages, and its math proficiency gains are substantial—3rd grade jumped from 23.3% to 37.2% and 4th grade from 35.4% to 44.9% year-over-year.

Among the middle schools, Rex Mill Middle School stands out for its exceptional advanced coursework results, achieving a perfect 100% proficiency rate in Algebra I End-of-Course testing—more than triple the district average and double the state average—along with a strong 78.6% proficiency in HS Physical Science. However, its grade-level math scores (22.5% to 31.9%) remain below state averages. Adamson Middle School offers the most consistent performance, hovering between the 22nd and 30th percentiles over three years, and it slightly outperforms Rex Mill in 8th-grade science (26.9% vs. 21.3%) and social studies (26.9% vs. 23.2%). Both middle schools consistently beat district averages in nearly every subject, making them relative bright spots within the district.

Notably, all three schools show widespread year-over-year gains, suggesting positive momentum. Chronic absenteeism is a major differentiator—the elementary school's rate is nearly 15 percentage points lower than both middle schools (23.6% and 24.7%). Interestingly, spending and class size show no clear correlation with performance: Adamson spends the most per student ($17,670) with the lowest student-teacher ratio (12.4:1) yet ranks lowest, while Rex Mill spends the least ($15,893) with the highest ratio (13.9:1) yet achieves the best advanced coursework results. While all schools remain below state averages in most grade-level subjects, the consistent improvement across nearly every metric suggests these schools are on an upward trajectory within a challenging district context.