Coalgate

Three public schools in Coalgate serve students from prekindergarten through grade 12: Emerson Elementary (394 students), Wallace Byrd Middle (87), and Coalgate High (236). In 2025–2026, the schools’ average proficiency was about 19% in ELA, 13% in math, and 27% in science, compared with state results of 26%, 25%, and 30%, respectively. The most important shared concern is math: the schools’ average was 12 percentage points below the state result.

No single school leads every subject. Emerson led math at 21% and science at 35%; its science result was 5 points above the state’s 30%. Coalgate High led ELA at 24%, while Wallace Byrd had the lowest ELA result at 14%—a 10-point difference. Coalgate High had the lowest math and science results, 9% and 15%; the gaps between the highest and lowest school results were 12 points in math and 20 in science. At the high school, U.S. History proficiency was 28%, 13 points below the state. Results across these schools vary by subject, so families may want to compare the specific grades and subjects that matter to them.

Across the nine ELA, math, and science results shared by the schools, the average rose from 19% in 2024–2025 to 20% in 2025–2026, with math gains driving much of the improvement. ELA average proficiency fell 2 points, and science was nearly unchanged; Wallace Byrd’s ELA result fell 9 points, even as its math result rose 4. SchoolDigger ranked Emerson at the 33rd percentile, Coalgate High at the 24th, and Wallace Byrd at the 20th in 2025–2026; Emerson and the high school each gained 6 percentile points, while the middle school fell 17. Other positive measures include a 92% high-school graduation rate in 2024–2025, versus 78% statewide, and 2025–2026 chronic absenteeism of about 2% to 6% at each school, compared with 16% statewide. Free/reduced lunch eligible shares in 2024–2025 ranged from 67% at Wallace Byrd to 72% at Coalgate High, while student-teacher ratios ranged from 10.4 at the high school to 13.2 at Emerson; these are context, not explanations for results. The schools serve different grade spans, so all-grades results are not grade-matched comparisons.