Summary:
Turner County Elementary School is the sole elementary school in Turner County, serving 564 students in grades Pre-K through 5th grade in Ashburn, Georgia.
This school serves a student population where 100% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, reflecting a high-poverty community. The school invests heavily in its students, spending $16,558 per pupil and maintaining a favorable student-teacher ratio of 14.5:1. Despite these resources, the school currently ranks in the 12th percentile statewide (1-star rating), though this marks an improvement from the previous year's 5th percentile ranking. The most encouraging news comes from 5th grade Science, where proficiency jumped dramatically from 10.1% to 31.8% in one year. Fifth grade Math also showed strong gains, rising from 11.2% to 21.7% proficiency. However, 3rd grade Math declined from 22.1% to 16.7%, and 4th grade Math remained essentially flat at 22.4%. All subjects remain significantly below state averages, with gaps ranging from roughly 12 to 32 percentage points.
Chronic absenteeism stands at 19.8%, which is above the state average of 17.7% but better than the district average of 22.5%. From the most recent ELA data available, proficiency rates were consistently low across all grades, ranging from 12.7% to 16.9%. The school's overall trajectory is positive, with its star rating improving from 0 to 1 star and its percentile ranking more than doubling year-over-year. For parents, this school demonstrates that while significant challenges remain, particularly in closing the achievement gap with the rest of Georgia, there are signs of meaningful progress, especially in upper-grade science and math instruction. The combination of high per-student spending, small class sizes, and recent academic gains suggests the school is actively working to improve outcomes for its students.
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