Best High Schools in Zip Code 31015

Zip code 31015, serving the Cordele, Georgia area, is home to two high schools: Crisp County High School, a traditional public school serving grades 9-12 with 978 students, and Crisp RYDC, a specialized Regional Youth Detention Center school serving grades 5-12 with just 16 students.

Crisp County High School is the dominant institution in this area and the only one with published academic data. It faces significant challenges across every measurable metric. Proficiency rates on state assessments are roughly half the state average or lower, with U.S. History at just 11.3% proficient compared to 38.5% statewide, and Algebra I at 22.8% versus 48.1% statewide. The school ranks in the bottom 12-16% of Georgia high schools, with a graduation rate of 81.7% (state: 87.2%) and a dropout rate of 5.5%—more than double the state rate of 2.4%. Chronic absenteeism affects 28.7% of students, well above the 17.7% state average. Nearly all students (99.59%) qualify for free/reduced lunch, indicating extreme economic disadvantage. Per-student spending is $14,718, and the student-teacher ratio is 15.6:1. There are small signs of improvement in Algebra I proficiency (from 19.3% to 22.8%), but overall performance remains low.

In stark contrast, Crisp RYDC offers an exceptionally intensive learning environment with a 3.2:1 student-teacher ratio, reflecting its rehabilitative mission within the Department of Juvenile Justice. Its 81.25% free/reduced lunch rate shows that even students in the justice system come predominantly from low-income backgrounds. However, no academic outcome data is available for this facility, so its effectiveness cannot be assessed. Both schools operate under different districts—Crisp County High School under Crisp County and Crisp RYDC under Department of Juvenile Justice—and represent opposite ends of the educational spectrum: one large and community-based, the other tiny and secure. Note that English Language Arts scores are not included in this release; no conclusions should be drawn from their absence.