Schools in Zip Code 30137

Zip code 30137 in Emerson, Georgia, is served by two schools in the Bartow County School District: Red Top Middle School (grades 6-8) and Emerson Elementary School (grades PK-5), with no high school located within the community itself.

Red Top Middle School stands out for its exceptional Algebra I program, with a 91.3% proficiency rate that far exceeds both the district (53.9%) and state (48.1%) averages. However, this strength is not reflected across other subjects: 8th grade math proficiency sits at just 34.6%, and 8th grade science is critically low at 12.6%. The school appears to channel its strongest math students into advanced coursework, leaving the general 8th grade population performing well below district norms. In contrast, Emerson Elementary School has experienced a sharp decline, dropping from the 48th to the 27th percentile in state rankings. The most alarming trend is in 5th grade, where math proficiency fell from 33.9% to 16.7% and science from 35.6% to 15.2% in a single year—placing those scores roughly 25-30 points below district and state averages. Notably, 3rd and 4th grade performance remains near par, suggesting this is a cohort-specific issue rather than a school-wide problem.

Both schools serve predominantly economically disadvantaged populations, with free/reduced lunch rates above 77%. Emerson Elementary spends a notably high $20,203 per student yet produces bottom-quartile results, while Red Top Middle spends less ($17,824) and achieves better overall outcomes. Chronic absenteeism is higher at Emerson (18.6%) than at Red Top (14.8%), and science is a systemic weakness across both schools. Favorable student-teacher ratios (10.6:1 at Emerson, 13.1:1 at Red Top) suggest class size is not the primary barrier. For parents, Red Top offers a proven advanced math pathway but struggles in standard math and science, while Emerson shows urgent need for intervention in its upper elementary grades.