Fred A. Toomer Elementary School, Atlanta GA

Original Research by School Decision on Fred A. Toomer Elementary School

Fred A. Toomer Elementary School is a neighborhood public elementary school serving pre-K through fifth grade in Atlanta. The school enrolls just over five hundred students, with a composition that is majority Black, roughly one-quarter white, and a small share of other racial groups. About three out of five students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing this school in an economically mixed to lower-income setting.

Academic performance at Toomer is well below proficiency benchmarks across tested grades and subjects. In third grade, both math and English language arts sit below one-third proficient. Fourth grade shows the strongest results, with math and ELA proficiency rates in the low-to-mid range, but fifth grade drops sharply, with ELA proficiency falling below one-quarter of students and math and science proficiency rates in the low teens to low twenties. These results hold the school above the median among DeKalb County's districts when measured by a composite proficiency index, placing it in the top quartile county-wide, but the absolute performance levels are a soft spot that warrants closer attention. Parents may want to ask the school directly about current interventions, literacy and numeracy instruction models, and whether improvement trajectories are evident in classroom and benchmark data beyond state testing.

Atlanta Public Schools has invested substantially in a science-of-reading literacy curriculum, known as "Readers are Leaders," rolling it out from a pilot across all elementary schools. The district reports notable gains in fourth-grade reading on national assessment data, a shift that may benefit students moving through Toomer's early grades. The school sits within a district grappling with significant structural change: in December the board approved a plan to close or merge sixteen schools beginning in 2027-2028, concentrated in northwest and southwest Atlanta neighborhoods. Families should confirm whether Toomer is on that list and understand how boundary changes or school consolidations might affect enrollment, staff, or programs in coming years.

The Rogers Street location places the school in Atlanta proper, in a city landscape shaped by rapid regional growth, mixed-use neighborhoods of varying walkability, and the Atlanta BeltLine trail system. Housing values in the 30317 zip code sit above the state benchmark, with rental costs reflecting moderate affordability pressure. The broader Atlanta market is buoyant: major employers span healthcare, logistics, Fortune 500 corporate headquarters, and a growing tech sector. The city's school system has held its property tax millage flat since 2022, and in 2021 secured a permanent homestead exemption that offers some property tax relief to homeowners.

For families considering Toomer, the core question is fit: whether the current academic profile, the school's position within a district undergoing consolidation, and the neighborhood setting align with their priorities. This is an established, full-service elementary school with a stable mixed-race and mixed-income student body in a vibrant city, but the proficiency data suggest that academic support and teaching intensity are areas to examine directly with the school before enrolling.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 331%

School 31% · District 41% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Grade 443%

School 43% · District 41% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

Grade 517%

School 17% · District 35% · ▼ 18 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 331%

School 31% · District 35% · ▼ 4 pts below district

even with state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Grade 448%

School 48% · District 38% · ▲ 10 pts above district

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▲ 22 pts above county median

Grade 522%

School 22% · District 39% · ▼ 17 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 520%

School 20% · District 38% · ▼ 17 pts below district

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

Social studies

Grades 3-868%

School 68% · district not reported

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

This schoolAtlanta Public Schools, 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.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income23%Higher-income74%51 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income4%Higher-income53%49 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income25%Higher-income77%52 pp gap

Grades 3-8Lower-income16%Higher-income70%53 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income21%Higher-income70%49 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income15%Higher-income47%32 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income22%Higher-income68%46 pp gap

Grades 3-8Lower-income19%Higher-income64%45 pp gap