Summary:
Zip code 30540, serving the Ellijay, Georgia area, is home to a single high school, Gilmer High School, which serves grades 9-12 with an enrollment of 1,216 students as part of the Gilmer County school district.
Gilmer High School stands out for its exceptional graduation rate of 96.6% for 2024-2025, nearly 10 percentage points above the state average of 87.2%, despite test scores that generally trail state averages. The school has shown consistent improvement in its state ranking, climbing from the 58th percentile in 2023-2024 to the 63rd percentile in 2025-2026. In terms of academic performance, the school demonstrates a clear strength in United States History, with 46.7% proficiency in 2025-2026 compared to the state's 38.5%. However, it lags slightly in Algebra I (44.1% vs. state 48.1%) and Biology (45.3% vs. state 47.2%). Notably, the school has shown impressive year-over-year gains across all subjects, with Biology improving by 8.6 percentage points, Algebra I by 6.5 points, and US History by 5.7 points.
The most concerning metric for Gilmer High School is chronic absenteeism at 20.4%, which exceeds both the district rate of 14.3% and the state rate of 17.7%. This is particularly puzzling given the school's strong graduation rate of 96.6% and low dropout rate of 0.8%, well below the state's 2.4%. With nearly half of students (48.03%) qualifying for free or reduced lunch, the school serves a significant economically disadvantaged population yet still achieves strong graduation outcomes. The school spends $13,708 per student with a student-teacher ratio of 16.4:1, which is typical for Georgia high schools. The school's steady improvement trajectory across multiple metrics suggests recent academic initiatives are yielding positive results, and if current trends continue, it could reach the 4-star tier in the near future.
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