Summary:
ZIP code 40118 has two high schools in Jefferson County: Fairdale High, serving grades 9–12 with 1,405 students, and Georgia Chaffee Teenage Parent Program, serving grades 6–12 with 43 students. Attendance is the clearest concern: in 2025–2026, chronic absenteeism was 50% at Fairdale and 88% at Georgia Chaffee, compared with 24% statewide, leaving both schools well above the state rate and Georgia Chaffee 38 points higher than Fairdale.
Fairdale has the only reportable test results, and they trail the state in every subject: its 2025–2026 scores ranged from 12% in science to 36% in writing, with state gaps of 11 to 17 points. Its average across six subjects was 26%, compared with 39% statewide and 29% for the district; writing was its sole subject above the district, at 36% versus 32%. Georgia Chaffee stands out for its much higher absenteeism, while Fairdale has the larger enrollment and a higher student-teacher ratio (15.4 versus 2.2). In 2024–2025, both reported free/reduced lunch eligible: 66% at Fairdale and 77% at Georgia Chaffee. Georgia Chaffee’s test results are suppressed, and the schools’ graduation figures are from different years, so these data do not support an overall school-to-school ranking.
Fairdale’s results improved across the five subjects with scores in both years: its average rose from 24% in 2024–2025 to 28% in 2025–2026, while the state average was nearly flat, moving from 42% to 43%; the average school-to-state gap narrowed by 4 points. Fairdale’s scores nevertheless remained below the state in every subject. SchoolDigger’s reported percentiles for Fairdale were 17, 9, and 16 in 2023–2024, 2024–2025, and 2025–2026; Georgia Chaffee’s were 17, 2, and 12 in 2017–2018, 2018–2019, and 2020–2021. SchoolDigger ranks the district 135th of 158 in its supplied district information, but the school histories are from different years and do not provide a direct comparison.
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