South Tattnall Elementary School

South Tattnall Elementary School in Glennville, GA, serves 831 students in Pre-K through 5th grade and is part of the Tattnall County school district. The school has seen its state ranking dip from the 40th percentile to the 21st percentile over the past year, and now serves a student population where 100% of families qualify for free or reduced lunch—a sharp increase from 78.4% just two years ago.

One bright spot is attendance: the school’s chronic absenteeism rate of 16.4% is better than both the district (18.3%) and state (17.7%) averages, and it has stayed remarkably stable over four years. However, academic results are mixed. In math, 3rd grade proficiency has fallen steadily from 44.6% to 37.2% over three years, and proficiency drops as students advance—from 37.2% in 3rd grade to 26.5% in 5th grade. The most alarming trend is in 5th grade science, where proficiency plunged from 30.1% to just 15.7% in a single year—far below the district’s 26.9% and the state’s 44.2%. This dramatic decline warrants attention from school leadership.

Comparisons with nearby schools highlight both challenges and possibilities. North Tattnall Elementary School, serving an identical student population in the same district, has improved its ranking to the 39th percentile and now outperforms South Tattnall in every subject—most notably in 5th grade science (38.4% vs. 15.7%). Meanwhile, Odum Elementary School and Taylors Creek Elementary School, both serving high-poverty populations, achieve math proficiency rates roughly double South Tattnall’s. South Tattnall actually spends more per student ($14,832) than these higher-performing peers, raising important questions about how resources are being used. With stable attendance and enrollment as a foundation, the school has clear opportunities to reverse its current trajectory.