Summary:
There are five elementary schools serving grades PK through 5 in zip code 30815, a high-poverty area in the Hephzibah section of Richmond County, where all students qualify for free or reduced lunch and the district ranks in the bottom 11% of Georgia school systems.
Two schools stand out from the rest. McBean Elementary School is the clear leader, ranking 899th in the state (26th percentile) and earning a 2-star rating in both recent years. It posts the highest math proficiency in every grade (34.5% in 3rd, 31.2% in 4th, 27.9% in 5th) and the second-highest science score (31.1%), while also having the highest per-student spending ($16,741) and a low student-teacher ratio of 12.3. Deer Chase Elementary School is the improver, jumping from the 10th to 12th percentile and earning its first star. Its 5th grade science proficiency of 35.6% is the best in the group and nearly double the district average, and it has the lowest chronic absenteeism rate (17.2%)—the only school at or below the state average. The other three schools—Diamond Lakes Elementary School, Hephzibah Elementary School, and Jamestown Elementary School—all rank in the bottom 6% of the state and consistently score below district averages.
There are clear patterns to watch. Hephzibah shows a dramatic math decline from 3rd grade (29.7%) to 5th grade (7.8%), while Jamestown is on a concerning downward trajectory, dropping to 1,188th in state ranking with the lowest science score (7.3%). Notably, spending doesn't guarantee results: Deer Chase performs well with the lowest spending ($14,026), while Jamestown spends nearly as much as McBean ($16,630) but performs far worse. All five schools face significant challenges—even McBean trails state averages by 15-20 points—but the upper tier of McBean and Deer Chase demonstrates that strong science instruction and early-grade math foundations are achievable, offering models the lower-tier schools could learn from.
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