The top reported proficiency rate is 38% in Math. The lowest is 25% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Henderson Middle School
Henderson Middle School is a public middle school in Jackson, Georgia, serving students in grades six through eight with an enrollment distributed roughly evenly across those three grades. The school sits in Butts County, a small-county region roughly forty miles south of Atlanta, in a town of modest size built around a historic courthouse square downtown.
The school's academic performance reflects a student body with substantial learning gaps. Reading proficiency across grades six through eight averages in the low-to-mid range, with eighth-grade reading and math showing the most strength among the three tested subjects. Math proficiency is similar in profile: sixth and seventh grades sit lower, while eighth-grade math proficiency reaches roughly the halfway mark. Science and social studies, tested only in eighth grade, are notably lower. The data provided shows only the 2024-25 school year, so no trend line over time is available; a parent may want to look into the school's achievement trajectory with staff directly and ask whether recent years show movement. The school does not serve high grades, so no graduation rate applies.
The student population is economically fragile. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a marker of family income below or near the poverty line. The school's racial and ethnic composition is mixed, with roughly balanced white and Black enrollment, a small Hispanic population, and very small Asian and multiracial groups. Specific data on special education enrollment and English learner populations were not available, so gaps remain in the full picture of student support needs.
Jackson itself is a small town with a walkable downtown square anchored by restaurants, a coffee shop, and locally owned shops clustered around the historic courthouse, now a museum and visitor center. The town is oriented toward I-75 access, a few miles north, and sits in the path of metro Atlanta's southward growth. The region has recently seen major economic announcements, including a Procter & Gamble fulfillment center and an Amazon Web Services data center campus, alongside mixed-income residential development. Housing values in the Jackson zip code are moderate by state and national standards; rental costs are affordable relative to median household income. Property taxes, however, have been a friction point for local owners: Butts County's school board advanced a budget with raised property taxes in summer 2024, drawing opposition at public hearings, and voters passed a school district ad valorem tax referendum in May 2025, which continues the local property-tax authority that funds schools. A November 2025 referendum also raised the senior homestead exemption, though HB 791 froze homesteaded residential values at 2024 levels with future increases capped at inflation, a material change for long-term buyers.
The school is a regular public school operating under the Butts County school district, not a charter or magnet. No program offerings, staffing levels, course breadth, or special designations were available in the data provided. Discipline and attendance data were also not reported, limiting a fuller read of school environment and daily operations.
For a family moving to Jackson and considering Henderson, the key takeaway is that test scores show a school working with students who enter with significant academic gaps, that economic hardship is widespread among the student body, and that the data currently available does not span multiple years to show whether the school's performance is stable, improving, or sliding. Talking with the school directly about its intervention programs, staff stability, and recent achievement trends would be a natural next step.
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