Summary:
Cartersville Middle School is the sole middle school serving grades 6-8 in the Cartersville City district, enrolling 1,081 students in a suburban setting north of Atlanta.
This school stands out for its exceptional mathematics program. The most remarkable achievement is in Algebra I (End of Course), where 93.1% of students are proficient—nearly double the state average of 48.1%. This strong performance extends across all grade levels, with 6th, 7th, and 8th grade math proficiency rates (49.2%, 48.2%, and 53.1% respectively) all exceeding state averages by 6-9 percentage points. The school also performs well in 8th grade social studies (48% vs. 40.2% statewide) and high school physical science (72.2% vs. 60.9% statewide). However, there is a dramatic weakness in 8th grade science, where only 17% of students are proficient compared to the state's 29.7%—a gap of nearly 13 points. This creates a striking contrast within the same grade level, suggesting that students taking advanced physical science are a select group while the general science cohort struggles.
The school serves a majority low-income population, with 54.76% of students qualifying for free/reduced lunch, yet still outperforms state averages in most subjects. Chronic absenteeism is a bright spot at 12.7%, significantly better than the state's 17.7%. The school has slipped slightly in state ranking from the 74th percentile (4 stars) in 2023-2024 to the 69th percentile (3 stars) in 2025-2026, though most test scores have improved year-over-year. With a student-teacher ratio of 16.8:1 and per-student spending of $12,820, the school achieves above-average results with typical resource levels. The primary area for improvement is 8th grade science, while the exceptional Algebra I results position this as a model for mathematics instruction.
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