The top reported proficiency rate is 52% in Math. The lowest is 32% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on State Specialty Schools Ii- Southwest Georgia S.t.e.m. Char
State Specialty Schools II is a charter district serving a small enrollment across pre-K through 12th grade in Randolph County, Georgia. The district operates a single school, Southwest Georgia S.T.E.M. Charter Academy, which was granted a five-year charter renewal running through mid-2030 with statewide attendance eligibility.
The most recent major change is structural: the school has expanded from serving only elementary and middle grades into a full K-12program, adding one grade level per year. This means students can now stay within the same STEM-focused environment through high school rather than transition elsewhere after 8th grade. The high school grades are still in their early years, with the first graduating class approaching completion as of the current school year.
On academic performance, test data from the 2024-25 school year shows uneven results across grade levels and subjects. In mathematics, proficiency ranges significantly by grade. Early elementary shows below-average proficiency in grades 3 and 5, while grade 4 performs slightly better. A notable jump occurs in grades 7 and 8, where proficiency climbs to stronger levels. Overall math proficiency across the tested grades sits around the midpoint statewide.
English language arts proficiency is notably lower. Grades 3 through 5 show proficiency rates well below half, and grade 6 drops particularly low. Seventh and 8th grade students show some improvement but remain below the level seen in math. Overall ELA proficiency places this district at the lower end compared to state norms. Science proficiency in the tested grades (5 and 8) falls just below the midpoint statewide, while 8th grade social studies proficiency is similarly low.
The profile of the student body is predominantly white, with a substantial share of Black students and smaller shares of Hispanic and multiracial students. Data on free-or-reduced-price lunch eligibility and English learner status were not available, so a reader wanting to understand the economic or language backgrounds of the student population should ask the school directly. Similarly, special education enrollment numbers were not reported.
The district is very small, with enrollment distributed evenly across most grades, though 11th and 12th grades are considerably smaller as the high school program is still ramping up. A parent may want to look into what resources and course offerings are developing at the high school level and how the school is building out those grades.
Comparison data for the county districts was not available because Randolph County contains only this one district, so a parent interested in how this school performs relative to other options in the region would need to compare against districts in neighboring counties.
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