Thomas Heathe Slater Elementary School, Atlanta GA

Original Research by School Decision on Thomas Heathe Slater Elementary School

Thomas Heathe Slater Elementary School serves about five hundred students in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade, all of whom qualify for free and reduced-price lunch. The enrollment is nearly entirely Black, with very small populations of Hispanic and multiracial students and virtually no representation of other groups.

The school's academic performance is markedly low across state-tested subjects. In third grade, just under three in ten students score at proficiency in math and about one in five in English language arts. Performance declines sharply in fourth grade, where proficiency drops to about one in seven in math and fewer than one in fifteen in ELA. Fifth grade math proficiency falls to just over one in ten, while ELA slightly improves to about one in four. Science proficiency at fifth grade is somewhat stronger at about one in four students. Across all tested grades and subjects, the school's overall proficiency rate places it below the midpoint among the districts in Fulton County. A parent may want to look into further with the school what literacy supports and math interventions are in place, particularly for fourth and fifth graders.

The school is located on Pryor Road in southwest Atlanta, in a zip code where median home values have declined modestly over the past year and rental costs remain modest. The area is part of the broader Atlanta economy, which is one of the fastest-growing metro regions in the United States with major corporate headquarters and employment anchors across healthcare, logistics, and advanced manufacturing.

Atlanta Public Schools has launched a districtwide literacy initiative called Readers are Leaders, grounded in the science of reading and expanded from a pilot to all elementary schools. The district has invested substantially in this work, and fourth-grade reading results on the National Assessment of Educational Progress have improved notably, positioning Atlanta among stronger urban districts on that measure. At the same time, the district has just approved a sweeping plan to close or restructure 16 schools beginning in the 2027-2028 school year. While Slater does not appear on the closure list, families should be aware that enrollment pressure and school restructuring are reshaping the district, and attendance boundaries or neighboring school options may shift.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 329%

School 29% · District 41% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Grade 414%

School 14% · District 41% · ▼ 26 pts below district

▼ 31 pts below state median · ▼ 30 pts below county median

Grade 510%

School 10% · District 35% · ▼ 25 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 321%

School 21% · District 35% · ▼ 13 pts below district

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

Grade 47%

School 7% · District 38% · ▼ 31 pts below district

▼ 28 pts below state median · ▼ 26 pts below county median

Grade 523%

School 23% · District 39% · ▼ 16 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 525%

School 25% · District 38% · ▼ 13 pts below district

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

Social studies

Grades 3-857%

School 57% · district not reported

▼ 27 pts below state median · ▼ 20 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.