Summary
Garrett Middle School in Austell, GA, serves 891 students in grades 6 through 8 as part of the Cobb County School District, a district ranked in the top 29% of Georgia. The school has shown steady improvement over the past few years, moving from the 21st percentile statewide in 2020-2021 to the 37th percentile for 2025-2026, though it still sits in the lower-middle tier of Georgia middle schools.
The most striking strength at Garrett is its Algebra I program. An impressive 95.4% of students taking the Algebra I End-of-Course exam were proficient in 2025-2026, far exceeding the district (59.4%) and state (48.1%) averages. This is a consistent pattern, with scores of 95.8% and 75% in the prior two years. The school also earns high marks for specific student groups: African American students rank in the 68th percentile statewide, and English Language Learners rank in the 70th percentile with a 4-star rating. However, these bright spots contrast sharply with other areas. Only 22% of 8th graders were proficient in Social Studies—less than half the district average of 52.3%—and just 27% of 6th graders met grade-level math standards, compared to 48.2% district-wide. This "two-tiered" pattern suggests that while advanced students receive exceptional preparation, many students at grade level struggle.
Chronic absenteeism is a significant challenge, with 20.4% of students missing substantial school time—higher than the district (14.2%) and state (17.7%) averages. Encouragingly, this rate has dropped from 23.4% the prior year, and the school's ranking improved alongside that decline. A comparison with Cooper Middle School, just over a mile away, is revealing: Cooper ranks in the 70th percentile, has lower absenteeism (14.4%), and posts a 60.9% proficiency rate in Social Studies. Both schools serve predominantly low-income families, suggesting that Garrett's challenges are not simply a function of poverty. At $14,833 per student, Garrett spends more than nearby Lovinggood Middle School ($13,392) and Cooper ($14,423), yet overall outcomes lag. The school clearly has pockets of excellence—particularly in advanced math and for certain student groups—but the key to future gains lies in scaling that success to the broader student body and tackling attendance.
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