Berta Weathersbee Elementary School, Lagrange GA

Original Research by School Decision on Berta Weathersbee Elementary School

Berta Weathersbee Elementary serves pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in LaGrange, a mid-sized west Georgia city that has been growing rapidly as a regional manufacturing and distribution hub, anchored by companies including Kia, Interface, Duracell, and Caterpillar. The school draws students from the surrounding neighborhoods of Troup County's seat, where the economy is mixed and manufacturing-based, and where substantial investment in school facilities and early literacy instruction is now underway.

The student body at Berta Weathersbee is predominantly Black, with a very high concentration of economically disadvantaged students. All of the school's enrolled students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic reality of the families the school serves. The school is small to mid-sized for its grade span, with students distributed across seven grades from pre-K through fifth.

Academic performance is a serious concern. Across the tested grades and subjects, proficiency rates are low. In English language arts, only a small share of third graders meet proficiency, with proficiency rising modestly in fourth and fifth grade but remaining well below half. Math proficiency is similarly constrained, with third grade performance particularly weak, fourth grade reaching about two in five students, and fifth grade dropping again. In science, tested only at fifth grade, about one in four students showed proficiency. These figures represent a school where most students are not yet meeting state standards in core subjects. The school has only one year of current data, so trend information is not available and a parent may want to ask the school directly about whether and how performance has shifted in prior years.

The Troup County School System is implementing meaningful changes in early literacy instruction. Starting in the 2025-2026 school year, all schools in the district, including Berta Weathersbee, are administering a universal reading and dyslexia screener three times yearly in grades K through 3, paired with Science of Reading-aligned instructional practices. This represents a district-wide commitment to identifying and addressing reading difficulties early, which may help support students in the grades Berta Weathersbee teaches.

The broader Troup County district is in a period of facility and operational refresh. Voters have funded capital projects including building replacements, renovations, bus fleet updates, and technology upgrades through the ESPLOST tax, and the district recently chose to retain more property tax revenue by opting out of a state homestead exemption cap, signaling confidence in future investment.

Housing in the LaGrange area is relatively affordable compared to state and national benchmarks, with home values and rental costs below the Georgia median. The city is actively developing new mixed-use neighborhoods and addressing affordable housing through public initiatives, which shapes the economic stability and growth trajectory of families in the school's attendance zone. For a parent evaluating this school, the key questions center on what the school is doing specifically to address the proficiency gap, what support is available for students not yet meeting standards, and how the new universal screening and early literacy work will affect students in the primary grades over time.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 319%

School 19% · District 40% · ▼ 21 pts below district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 16 pts below county median

Grade 440%

School 40% · District 47% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 527%

School 27% · District 41% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▼ 15 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 37%

School 7% · District 29% · ▼ 22 pts below district

▼ 23 pts below state median · ▼ 24 pts below county median

Grade 426%

School 26% · District 37% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Grade 530%

School 30% · District 40% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Science

Grade 524%

School 24% · District 41% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

Social studies

Grades 3-877%

School 77% · district not reported

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

This schoolTroup County, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.