High Schools in Berrien County

Berrien County is home to two high schools—Berrien High School, the traditional comprehensive school serving about 850 students, and Berrien Academy Performance Learning Center, a smaller alternative school with roughly 61 students—together serving grades 9–12 in a rural South Georgia community where 85–90% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch.

The standout story is Berrien Academy Performance Learning Center, which made an extraordinary leap in state ranking from 187th (3 stars) to 45th (5 stars) in a single year, placing it in the top 10% of Georgia high schools. Its Biology proficiency rate of 75% is nearly 28 points above the state average, and U.S. History improved from 31.3% to 45.4%. However, with only 61 students, these figures represent small absolute numbers, so caution is warranted. The school also reports an unusually high student-teacher ratio of 46.9:1—more than triple that of Berrien High School (14.9:1)—despite spending more per student ($17,890 vs. $11,774). Meanwhile, Berrien High School has slipped in ranking from 143rd to 187th over three years, though it remains above the state median.

Both schools excel at graduating students: Berrien High School posts a 96.7% graduation rate and Berrien Academy 96.2%, both well above the state's 87.2%. Chronic absenteeism is lower at Berrien High School (15.6%) than the state average, but higher at the Academy (22.7%). At Berrien High School, Biology proficiency (52.5%) beats the state, but Algebra I (40.1%) lags the district by 11 points—a clear target for improvement. The district itself earns a 4-star rating and ranks 31st in Georgia, with a graduation rate nearly 10 points above the state average.