Summary:
Gordon County is home to six elementary schools serving grades Pre-K through 5th grade, with a combined enrollment of roughly 2,900 students across a predominantly rural, high-poverty region of northwest Georgia.
There is a clear divide between two standout schools and the rest of the district. Sonoraville Elementary is the district’s top performer, ranking 337th in the state (72nd percentile, 4 stars) with the lowest chronic absenteeism rate at 7.5%. Tolbert Elementary is the most improved, climbing from the 47th to the 71st percentile in just two years and now matching Sonoraville with a 4-star rating. Both schools lead in math and science proficiency across all grade levels, despite serving student populations where 90-99% qualify for free or reduced lunch. In contrast, Swain Elementary ranks lowest (40th percentile, 2 stars) and has the highest chronic absenteeism rate at 23.1%—more than triple Sonoraville’s rate. Fairmount Elementary, Red Bud Elementary, and Belwood Elementary all cluster in the 40th-48th percentile range, with Fairmount showing the steepest decline, dropping 140 ranking spots in one year.
Perhaps the most striking finding is that spending and class size do not predict success. Swain spends the most per student ($16,347) yet performs worst, while Tolbert spends the least ($13,203) and ranks second. Instead, chronic absenteeism shows a strong relationship with outcomes—the two highest-performing schools have the lowest absenteeism, and the lowest-performing school has the highest. District-wide, only Sonoraville and Tolbert exceed the state average in 5th grade science, suggesting a targeted focus on attendance and science instruction could benefit the remaining four schools. For parents, the data points to Sonoraville and Tolbert as the strongest academic options, while Swain may warrant closer attention regarding attendance and engagement.
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