Summary:
ZIP code 30331 in southwest Atlanta is home to 15 schools serving roughly 9,362 students from elementary through high school, a high-poverty area where 12 of 15 schools report 100% of students qualifying for free/reduced lunch.
For parents, the standout school in this area is Randolph Elementary School, which despite serving a 100% free/reduced lunch population, ranks in the 54th percentile statewide—the highest of any school in the ZIP code—and has the lowest chronic absenteeism rate at just 10.6%. At the high school level, Westlake High School clearly outperforms Benjamin E. Mays High School in every subject tested, with a 91.9% graduation rate versus 88.7%, and a chronic absenteeism rate of 25.7% compared to Mays' alarming 49.6%. Sandtown Middle School is a bright spot for advanced coursework, with 86% proficiency in Algebra I—nearly double the state average—and 77.1% in high school Physical Science. Among elementary schools, only Randolph and The Kindezi School meet or exceed state averages in 3rd grade math, while most others lag significantly.
A striking pattern emerges when comparing districts: Fulton County schools (Westlake, Sandtown, Randolph) consistently outperform Atlanta Public Schools counterparts in the same ZIP code, despite serving similar demographics. Notably, APS schools spend significantly more per student ($25,000-$31,000) yet achieve lower proficiency rates than Fulton County schools spending $16,000-$18,000. Chronic absenteeism is the strongest predictor of performance—schools with absenteeism above 40%, including Miles Elementary School and Atlanta Heights Charter School, all rank in the bottom third statewide. However, there are signs of hope: Miles jumped from the 7th to 30th percentile in one year, and SLAM Academy of Atlanta rose from the 19th to 39th percentile over two years, showing that targeted interventions can yield results even in challenging circumstances.
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