Summary:
Madison County is a 7-school district in northeastern Georgia serving roughly 5,265 students across five elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school, with a district-wide 4-star rating that places it in the 76th percentile of Georgia districts.
The district's standout is Ila Elementary School, the only school to earn 4 stars, ranking 185th statewide. Ila outperforms state averages by 15-20 points in math across all grade levels and posts a 62.5% science proficiency rate versus the state's 44.2%, all while serving a population where 80.84% qualify for free/reduced lunch. Hull-Sanford Elementary School is another bright spot—despite 100% student poverty, it has the district's lowest chronic absenteeism rate at 9.6% and its 3rd grade math proficiency (63.3%) beats both district and state averages. Madison County Middle School excels with advanced coursework: 94.7% of Algebra I students score proficient, nearly double the district average, and 80% of 8th graders taking Physical Science pass. However, standard-track middle school math lags state averages, and 8th grade science proficiency is just 21.3% versus 29.7% statewide.
The district's biggest challenge sits at Madison County High School, where Algebra I proficiency is just 31.9%—a stark contrast to the middle school's 94.7%—and chronic absenteeism reaches 26.5%, the highest in the district. The high school also spends the least per student ($12,507) while maintaining the largest class sizes. Despite these struggles, the district's graduation rate is an impressive 93.9% versus the state's 87.2%, and the dropout rate is just 0.7%. Elementary schools like Danielsville Elementary School, Colbert Elementary School, and Comer Elementary School generally meet or exceed state math averages, though Comer's state ranking has slipped from 382nd to 430th. The district's elementary-to-middle school performance cliff in math and science suggests a transition challenge worth investigating, while Ila's success with moderate spending points to instructional quality and school culture as key drivers.
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