Pierce County High School

Pierce County High School in Blackshear, GA, serves approximately 1,053 students in grades 9-12 and is part of the highly rated Pierce County district, which ranks in the top 5% of all districts in Georgia. The school itself has earned a 4-star rating and ranks 50th out of 455 high schools statewide, placing it in the 89th percentile. Over the past decade, the school has never ranked below the 84th percentile, demonstrating remarkable consistency. Its graduation rate of 95.9% far exceeds the state average of 87.2%, and its dropout rate of 0.9% is dramatically lower than the state's 2.8%.

Academically, Pierce County High School stands out dramatically when compared to nearby schools. In Algebra I, the school posted an 88.4% proficiency rate—more than 40 percentage points above the state average—compared to 62.1% at Bacon County High School, 58.7% at Ware County High School, and 42.7% at Brantley County High School. Biology proficiency is similarly impressive at 69.5%, outpacing all three neighboring schools by at least 16 percentage points. The school also achieves these results while spending less per student ($10,679) than any of its regional peers, suggesting strong instructional effectiveness and school culture rather than reliance on extra resources.

One area to watch is chronic absenteeism, which sits at 16.3%—below the state average of 17.7% but higher than the district's 11.6%. Encouragingly, this rate has dropped by 45% over the past four years. The school also serves a growing number of students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, with free or reduced-price lunch eligibility rising from 44% to nearly 78% over three years. Despite this shift, the school has maintained high proficiency rates and strong graduation outcomes, a testament to its deeply embedded culture of academic achievement.