Russell Middle School, Winder GA

Original Research by School Decision on Russell Middle School

Russell Middle School serves grades six through eight in Winder, Georgia, with an enrollment of about one thousand students drawn from across the city. The school sits within the Barrow County School District, a system covering the county's 56-bed regional hospital hub and the growing exurban communities around it. The student body is economically diverse: a substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and the enrollment is evenly split between white and Hispanic students, with smaller populations of Black, Asian, and multiracial peers. Demographic data on students with disabilities or English learners was not available.

Academic performance across the school reflects a consistent pattern: proficiency in language arts and social studies hovers in the low to mid-range, with math proficiency slightly lower across grades six through eight. In math, the lowest proficiency appears in grade six and rises modestly through grade eight. Language arts proficiency is steadier across the grades. Science proficiency, tested only in grade eight, is notably low. State testing data was not sufficient to compute a comparison of Russell against other Barrow County schools, since only one school in that county appears in the dataset, leaving no peer cohort for reference.

The school operates within a district managing significant growth and infrastructure investment. Winder itself is a bedroom community roughly halfway between Atlanta and Athens, with a historic downtown core mixed with newer residential subdivisions. The city has approved a comprehensive plan, a downtown master plan, and a complete streets and trails plan, and new residential construction is active, with large builders operating multiple home communities in the area. Barrow County as a whole has grown substantially over the past decade as part of the outer Atlanta metropolitan region.

The school district recently extended a sales tax for education through a voter-approved referendum in March 2023, dedicating funds to school construction, transportation, and technology. The district also doubled its School Resource Officer presence after the September 2024 shooting at Apalachee High School, expanding from about a dozen officers to roughly two dozen across all schools, a change that parents considering the district should understand as a defining feature of the current environment. Property tax millage rates for schools have fluctuated in recent years, and the district approved a significant expansion of senior homestead exemptions in 2024, substantially reducing school tax obligations for residents aged 62 and older, a factor relevant to families with older relatives.

Housing in the Winder zip code runs somewhat below the state average, and rent-to-income ratios suggest that rental housing is moderately affordable relative to median household income. The area's employers include a regional hospital, manufacturing operations, and logistics companies near State Route 316 and US 29, though the city retains its identity as a former mill town and now functions primarily as a commuter destination to Atlanta and surrounding areas. Fort Yargo State Park, with its lake and trails, sits within city limits and anchors outdoor recreation.

Russell Middle School is a regular public school with no specialized magnet or charter designation. No data on course offerings, staffing levels, attendance rates, or discipline policies was available in the provided information. A parent considering this school may want to inquire directly with the school and district about academic support, intervention programs for students not yet proficient, and the structure of instruction across grade levels, as state testing results alone do not reveal these details.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 625%

School 25% · District 28% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▼ 7 pts below state median

Grade 739%

School 39% · District 34% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 5 pts above state median

Grade 842%

School 42% · District 44% · ▼ 2 pts below district

even with state median

English language arts

Grade 637%

School 37% · District 34% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median

Grade 741%

School 41% · District 36% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 6 pts above state median

Grade 840%

School 40% · District 37% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 5 pts above state median

Science

Grade 827%

School 27% · District 27% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 1 pts above state median

Social studies

Grade 841%

School 41% · District 31% · ▲ 10 pts above district

▲ 10 pts above state median

This schoolBarrow 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.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 6Lower-income34%Higher-income51%17 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income25%Higher-income54%29 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income39%Higher-income61%22 pp gap

Grades 3-8Lower-income33%Higher-income55%23 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income19%Higher-income37%18 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income21%Higher-income52%31 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income33%Higher-income55%21 pp gap

Grades 3-8Lower-income25%Higher-income48%23 pp gap