Summary:
Towns County Elementary School is the sole elementary school in the Towns County district, serving grades PK through 5 in Hiawassee, GA, with 490 students and a district ranking in the top 14% of Georgia (86th percentile, 4-star rating).
This school stands out for achieving above-state-average results despite serving a predominantly high-poverty population—96% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch. In the most recent 2025-2026 testing, 5th-grade Science proficiency hit 56.4%, which is 12.2 points above the state average, while 5th-grade Math (45.2%) also edged out the state. The school’s chronic absenteeism rate is remarkably low at 5.6%, just one-third of the state’s 17.7%, a strong indicator of student engagement. From the prior year’s ELA data (2024-2025), 4th-grade ELA was a standout at 57.8% proficiency, a full 18.5 points above the state, and 4th-grade Math also excelled at 60.9% (+11.9). However, performance varies by grade: 3rd-grade Math lagged at 28.8% in 2024-2025, though it jumped dramatically to 47.9% in 2025-2026, while 4th-grade Math dropped sharply from 60.9% to 35.5% year-over-year, suggesting cohort differences rather than a consistent trend.
With a per-student spending of $18,915 and a favorable 11.2:1 student-teacher ratio, the school invests heavily in resources, which likely supports its strong science outcomes and low absenteeism. The state ranking has slipped from the 72nd percentile (2023-2024) to the 57th percentile (2025-2026), but this decline should be viewed cautiously since the latest ranking cycle excluded ELA scores, which are a known strength for this school. For parents, this is a school that punches above its weight given economic challenges, with particular excellence in upper-grade science and 4th-grade literacy, though 3rd-grade math remains an area to watch.
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