Jackson Elementary School, Atlanta GA

Original Research by School Decision on Jackson Elementary School

Jackson Elementary serves prekindergarten through fifth grade in Atlanta's Mount Paran area, a neighborhood in the northern part of the city. The school enrolls a small to mid-sized student body with a demographic composition that is majority white, with a meaningful presence of Black students and smaller populations of Asian and Hispanic students. A modest share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a generally middle-income enrollment.

Academically, Jackson's proficiency results show solid performance in reading and math. Across grades three through five, proficiency rates in English language arts and math cluster in the mid-to-high range, with math in fifth grade notably stronger than in third or fourth grade. Science proficiency in fifth grade, however, trails notably behind the school's reading and math performance and is an area where families may want to look into further with the school.

Overall, Jackson's mean proficiency index places it at the top quartile among Fulton County districts. This positioning reflects consistent performance across the tested grades and subjects where the school meets or exceeds county benchmarks in reading and mathematics.

The school sits within Atlanta Public Schools, a large urban district that has made districtwide investments in reading instruction grounded in the science of reading, rolling out a literacy initiative called Readers are Leaders from a pilot of eight schools to all elementary buildings. This curriculum shift is directly relevant to early elementary families: fourth graders across APS showed significant gains in recent national reading assessments, positioning Atlanta among the stronger large urban districts on this measure. The school also benefits from APS's transition in the 2024-2025 school year to in-house food service, making cafeteria staff direct APS employees and reshaping meal sourcing and quality.

Families should be aware that Atlanta Public Schools approved a sweeping restructuring plan in December 2025 called APS Forward, which will close, merge, or repurpose schools beginning in 2027-2028. The plan will reshape attendance boundaries, consolidate programs, and reassign staff. While Jackson's status within this plan was not specified in available data, the restructuring represents significant uncertainty for the district; a parent may want to check the district's website or contact the school directly to understand whether Jackson could be affected and what that timeline means for enrollment and operations.

The neighborhood around Mount Paran reflects Atlanta's affluent intown character. Housing values in the area are notably high, and the property tax environment in Atlanta Public Schools has held the millage rate flat since 2022 while homeowner bills have still risen with assessments; the district has in place a homestead exemption to soften that impact. The area is car-dependent by national standards, though intown Atlanta includes pockets of walkability and benefits from the Atlanta BeltLine, a linear park and future light-rail corridor that connects neighborhoods and has become a draw for families seeking urban pedestrian life.

Jackson is a regular public elementary school with no charter or magnet designation. It offers the standard grade bands for early childhood and primary education in a traditional school model.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 374%

School 74% · District 41% · ▲ 34 pts above district

▲ 34 pts above state median · ▲ 36 pts above county median

Grade 474%

School 74% · District 41% · ▲ 33 pts above district

▲ 29 pts above state median · ▲ 30 pts above county median

Grade 578%

School 78% · District 35% · ▲ 42 pts above district

▲ 40 pts above state median · ▲ 46 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 377%

School 77% · District 35% · ▲ 42 pts above district

▲ 46 pts above state median · ▲ 45 pts above county median

Grade 474%

School 74% · District 38% · ▲ 36 pts above district

▲ 40 pts above state median · ▲ 41 pts above county median

Grade 576%

School 76% · District 39% · ▲ 37 pts above district

▲ 38 pts above state median · ▲ 36 pts above county median

Science

Grade 559%

School 59% · District 38% · ▲ 22 pts above district

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 24 pts above county median

Social studies

Grades 3-898%

School 98% · district not reported

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 21 pts above 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-income64%Higher-income85%21 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income46%Higher-income81%34 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income54%Higher-income85%31 pp gap

Grades 3-8Lower-income55%Higher-income84%29 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income50%Higher-income85%35 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income46%Higher-income86%39 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income31%Higher-income85%54 pp gap

Grades 3-8Lower-income43%Higher-income85%43 pp gap