The top reported proficiency rate is 39% in English language arts. The lowest is 21% in Social studies.
Original Research by School Decision on State Specialty Schools I- Ivy Preparatory Academy- Inc
State Specialty Schools I, operating as Ivy Preparatory Academy, is a charter district serving kindergarten through eighth grade in Atlanta with a single-gender instructional model and a focus on STREAM curriculum. The school enrolls a small population, nearly all of whom are Black students, with a modest representation of Hispanic and multiracial students. Enrollment is distributed across the grade span, with elementary grades holding slightly larger cohorts and middle grades somewhat smaller.
Academic performance across the tested grades shows uneven results that vary considerably by subject and grade level. In English language arts, the district's proficiency rates grow from the lower elementary through middle school, with third grade at a notably low level and sixth through eighth grades showing stronger performance. Math proficiency is lower overall, hovering well below half across most grades, with a marked improvement only in eighth grade where performance climbs sharply. Science proficiency at the grades tested (fifth and eighth) sits below both ELA and math across the district. In social studies, eighth-grade proficiency is the lowest among all tested subjects. The district's overall proficiency index, when averaged across all tested subjects and grades, places it above the midpoint among DeKalb County's seven districts, though this reflects considerable variability within the data rather than consistently strong outcomes.
The district's chronic absenteeism rate sits above the median within DeKalb County, a metric that may warrant attention given its relationship to academic achievement. Per-pupil spending falls in the lower-middle range among comparable county districts.
A material element affecting enrollment decisions is the charter's authorization status. In publicly reported information from the State Charter Schools Commission of Georgia, Ivy Preparatory Academy at Kirkwood received a three-year renewal in 2022 with the possibility of a two-year extension contingent on meeting financial requirements. Families considering enrollment should understand that the school's continued operation is subject to meeting those benchmarks and that the initial renewal window has a defined endpoint. A parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand current standing and the timeline ahead.
The school appears to draw from the broader DeKalb County and Atlanta Public Schools attendance zone. Data on free-or-reduced-price lunch eligibility, English learner enrollment, and special education enrollment were not available, leaving gaps in the full demographic picture. Trend data cover only the current school year, so longer-term academic direction cannot be assessed from the available information.
See more original research from School Decision →