Summary:
Zip code 30087 in Stone Mountain, Georgia, is home to three elementary schools—Pine Ridge Elementary School, Wynbrooke Elementary School, and Smoke Rise Elementary School—all serving grades PK through 5 within the DeKalb County School District.
There is a stark performance gap between these schools despite their similar size and location. Wynbrooke Elementary School is the clear standout, ranking in the 68th percentile statewide with a 3-star rating. It is the only school in this group that consistently meets or exceeds state averages—for example, its 4th grade math proficiency rate of 62.6% surpasses the state average of 50.1%. In contrast, Pine Ridge Elementary School ranks in the 6th percentile with a 0-star rating, and Smoke Rise Elementary School sits in the middle but has dropped sharply from the 46th to the 16th percentile in one year. In 5th grade math, Wynbrooke's proficiency rate (56.7%) is triple that of Pine Ridge (18.6%) and more than double that of Smoke Rise (23.1%).
Chronic absenteeism shows a clear relationship with performance: Wynbrooke has the lowest rate at 7.6%, while Pine Ridge has the highest at 19.0%. Interestingly, spending and class size do not predict success—Smoke Rise spends the most per student ($21,091) and has the smallest classes (11.9:1), yet underperforms Wynbrooke, which spends the least ($19,068) and has the largest classes (14.7:1). All three schools serve high-poverty populations, with free/reduced lunch eligibility between 84% and 100%. Despite these challenges, Wynbrooke's consistent top-third ranking over three years proves that high achievement is possible in this community, making attendance and instructional quality more likely drivers of success than funding or class size alone.
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