Summary:
ZIP code 30034 in Decatur, Georgia is served by 11 schools—6 elementary, 3 middle, and 2 high schools—enrolling roughly 5,376 students, with all but one belonging to DeKalb County, a district ranked in the bottom third of Georgia (32nd percentile). This is a high-poverty area where 9 of 11 schools report 100% free/reduced lunch eligibility, and academic performance generally falls below already-lagging district averages.
The clear standout is Narvie Harris Elementary School, ranked 589th of 1,219 Georgia elementary schools (52nd percentile, 3 stars). It leads the ZIP code in math (42.3% average proficiency) and science (46.9% in 5th grade), while posting the lowest chronic absenteeism rate at 14.8%—below the state average. Its free/reduced lunch rate (88.41%) is also notably lower than the 100% seen at most neighbors. However, its ranking has slipped from 335th to 589th over three years. At the other extreme, Chapel Hill Elementary School sits at the 2nd percentile with just 12.9% average math proficiency, illustrating a dramatic gap between two demographically similar schools in the same ZIP code.
Among middle schools, Chapel Hill Middle School is the most improved, rising from the 19th to 27th percentile, with 8th grade math at 28.2% and social studies (25.2%) exceeding the district average. Columbia Middle School shows a striking anomaly—8th grade math (28.3%) is 4.5x higher than 7th grade (6.1%)—while Cedar Grove Middle School ranks 544th of 578 (6th percentile) with 36% chronic absenteeism. Southwest DeKalb High School offers a mixed picture: a strong 90.6% graduation rate and Algebra I proficiency that nearly doubled to 40.1%, but biology proficiency (25.8%) and chronic absenteeism (47.1%) are major concerns. Notably, Bob Mathis Elementary School spends $57,153 per student—over 3x Narvie Harris—yet ranks 1,038th, showing spending alone doesn't drive results.
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