The top reported proficiency rate is 93% in Social studies. The lowest is 41% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Bacon County Elementary School
Bacon County Elementary School serves grades three through five and is located in Alma, a small rural county seat in the wiregrass region of southeast Georgia, known for blueberry farming and agriculture. The school serves a community built around farming, light industry, and growing businesses like Rao's U.S. pasta production facility and solar operations. Alma is beginning a period of new development after slower growth, with planned entertainment and downtown revitalization projects.
The student body reflects the surrounding rural Bacon County population. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating economic need concentrated in the area. The racial composition is mixed, with white students making up about half the enrollment, and Black and Hispanic students each representing significant portions. Overall enrollment is small for an elementary school serving three grades, reflecting the rural population base.
Recent state assessment results show academic proficiency below midpoint levels across the school. In English language arts, proficiency ranges from the upper thirties to low forties across grades three, four, and five. Mathematics performance is somewhat stronger, with grade four showing better results than grades three and five, though grade five proficiency in math falls notably below grades three and four. Science proficiency in grade five is in the mid-forties. These results indicate that roughly four in ten students are meeting state standards in most areas, with math slightly ahead of language arts.
The data provided does not include special education enrollment rates, English learner counts, discipline data, chronic absenteeism, or a comparison to other districts statewide. The school's performance sits alone in its county, so relative position among Georgia's districts cannot be stated. Multi-year trend data is not available, so it is unclear whether proficiency has moved up, down, or stayed flat in recent years.
The Bacon County School District itself underwent a structural change in July 2025 with the establishment of a district police department, a development that shifts school governance and student-environment approach across all district facilities. Parents considering this school may want to learn more about how the district implements its policing function and what the presence of in-house law enforcement means for school discipline and student interactions.
The community context offers both assets and challenges. Alma has a compact walkable downtown with parks, a library, and civic venues, and agriculture and newer economic sectors like food production create local employment. Housing values and mortgage affordability are modest relative to state and national benchmarks. The rural setting means limited public transit and car dependency outside the downtown core. Families move to or stay in Alma for agricultural work, proximity to established community networks, and the lower cost of living compared to urban Georgia.
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