Best High Schools in Zip Code 31794

Zip code 31794, serving the Tifton, Georgia area, is home to a single public high school, Tift County High School, which educates approximately 2,207 students in grades 9 through 12 as part of the Tift County school district.

For parents, the most important takeaway is that Tift County High School presents a mixed picture of strengths and challenges. On the positive side, the school excels at keeping students on track to graduate: its graduation rate of 88.6% is above the state average of 87.2%, and its dropout rate of 1.7% is lower than the state's 2.4%. This is a notable achievement given that over 90% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced lunch, indicating a high level of economic need. However, academic proficiency on state End-of-Course tests lags significantly behind state averages. For instance, Algebra I proficiency fell sharply to just 23.2% (compared to the state's 48.1%), and U.S. History proficiency dropped to 22.1% (state: 38.5%). Biology is the school's strongest subject, with 37.1% proficient, though still 10 points below the state. A major concern is chronic absenteeism, which affects 29.8% of students—nearly double the state rate of 17.7%—and is likely a key factor in the recent academic declines.

In terms of resources, the school spends $10,926 per student and maintains a student-teacher ratio of 17.4:1. The school's state ranking has slipped from 249th to 323rd out of over 450 Georgia high schools in the past year. For families, this means the school is effective at fostering persistence and graduation, but families should be aware of the academic challenges, particularly in math and history, and the high rate of absenteeism. The most urgent priorities for the school are improving attendance and providing targeted math intervention to reverse the downward trend in test scores. English Language Arts scores are not yet available for this release and will be released in December.