Summary:
Zip code 30814, encompassing the city of Harlem, Georgia, is home to a single elementary school: North Harlem Elementary School, which serves grades PK through 5 within the highly-rated Columbia County School District.
North Harlem Elementary School is a mid-sized campus with 930 students and a favorable 15.1:1 student-teacher ratio. The school shows a "split personality" in academic performance. Its 4th-grade math proficiency is a clear strength, with 60.2% of students meeting standards—well above the state average of 50.1% and showing an impressive 8.7-point improvement from the prior year. However, the 5th-grade cohort is a significant concern. Math proficiency plummeted 12.6 points to just 38.1%, and science proficiency dropped 15.2 points to 40.5%, both now below state averages. This creates a striking 22-point gap between the school's 4th and 5th-grade math scores, suggesting a possible transition issue or a challenging cohort. While the school's 3rd-grade math performance (48.0%) is essentially at the state average, it consistently trails the district, which is ranked 17th out of 201 districts in Georgia. The largest gaps are in 5th grade, where the school lags Columbia County by nearly 25 points in math and 22.5 points in science.
Despite these academic challenges, the school maintains a chronic absenteeism rate of 16.0%, which is better than the state average of 17.7% but higher than the district's 12.9%. With per-student spending of $12,066, the school appears adequately resourced. The key takeaway for parents is that North Harlem Elementary School offers a strong 4th-grade experience but is currently struggling with 5th-grade performance. The sharp year-over-year declines in 5th grade warrant close monitoring to determine if this is a temporary cohort issue or a systemic problem. The school's overall state ranking has been stable in the 58th-69th percentile range, earning a consistent 3-star rating, but the recent 5th-grade slide could pressure future rankings.
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