Summary:
Springfield, Georgia is home to two public schools—Effingham County High School (grades 9-12) and Springfield Elementary School (grades PK-5)—both part of the highly-rated Effingham County district, which ranks in the top 10% of Georgia districts.
These two schools present contrasting stories. Effingham County High School is on an upward trajectory, improving its state ranking from 135 to 117 over the past two years and earning a 4-star rating. It boasts a strong 92.8% graduation rate and a low 1.6% dropout rate. The high school also showed impressive academic gains this year, with Algebra I proficiency jumping 6.7 points and Biology rising 6.0 points, both now well above state averages. However, its chronic absenteeism rate of 22.8% is notably high—nearly double the district average and well above the state's 17.7%. In contrast, Springfield Elementary School has excellent attendance, with only 12.0% chronic absenteeism, but its academic performance took a significant hit this year. Math proficiency declined across all grade levels, with 5th grade math plummeting 21.6 points to 44.8%—now barely above the state average. The elementary school's ranking dropped from 196 to 313, though it still maintains a 4-star rating.
Despite these challenges, both schools generally outperform state averages. The high school exceeds state proficiency in all tested subjects, while the elementary school outperforms the state in most areas, including a strong 65.4% proficiency in 3rd grade math—notable given that 64.5% of its students qualify for free/reduced lunch. The elementary school also spends significantly more per student ($16,071 vs. $12,222) and has smaller class sizes (13.1:1 vs. 17.5:1). For parents, the key takeaway is that the high school is improving academically but faces attendance challenges, while the elementary school has strong attendance but is experiencing a concerning decline in math scores that families may want to monitor closely.
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