Summary:
Rex, Georgia is home to one elementary school, Roberta T. Smith Elementary School, which serves grades PK through 5 and is part of the Clayton County School District.
Roberta T. Smith Elementary is a high-poverty school—100% of its 720 students qualify for free/reduced lunch—but it is showing strong signs of academic momentum. The school has climbed from the 8th percentile statewide in 2023-2024 to the 32nd percentile in 2025-2026, improving its star rating from 0 to 2 stars. In mathematics, proficiency jumped significantly across all grade levels, with 3rd grade rising from 23.3% to 37.2%, 4th grade from 35.4% to 44.9%, and 5th grade from 12.9% to 22.9%. The school now outperforms its district in 3rd and 4th grade math and 5th grade science, despite the district ranking in the bottom 20% statewide. One of the school's most impressive stats is its chronic absenteeism rate of just 9.6%, which is less than one-third of the district's 28.0% rate and well below the state's 17.7%—a remarkable achievement for a school with such a high economic disadvantage rate.
The school also benefits from significant resources, spending $16,553 per student with a favorable 13:1 student-teacher ratio. However, challenges remain. Fifth grade math proficiency, while improved, is still the weakest area at 22.9% compared to the state's 44.1%. English Language Arts (ELA) scores from 2024-2025 (the most recent available, as current ELA results release in December) show proficiency rates of just 11.7% to 14.5% across grades, far below state averages of 34.9% to 43.0%. For parents, this school offers a supportive, well-funded environment with strong attendance and clear upward academic trends, but families should watch for continued progress in upper elementary math and the upcoming ELA results to gauge whether the school's improvement extends to all subjects.
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