Central Elementary School, Carrollton GA

Original Research by School Decision on Central Elementary School

Central Elementary School serves pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in Carrollton, a county seat roughly 45 to 50 miles west of Atlanta that functions as a regional educational and economic center. The school enrolls a student body that is majority white, with substantial representation from Hispanic and Black students and a significant share from families qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The building sits at the geographic and operational heart of a town with a historic downtown anchored by Adamson Square, a growing presence at the University of West Georgia, and widening layers of suburban residential development as the area is drawn further into the Atlanta metropolitan sphere.

The school's academic profile presents a mixed picture on the latest state assessments. In math, proficiency rates span a moderate range across grades, with fourth grade showing stronger performance and fifth grade mid-range. Reading shows a softer overall pattern, with fourth grade approaching the lower half of competency marks and fifth grade and third grade running in the low-to-mid range. Science, tested only in fifth grade, shows solid performance. When averaged across tested subjects and grades, Central's overall proficiency sits above the midpoint among the county's districts, placing it in the strongest bracket of comparison. The school reports only one year of assessment data, so trend patterns are not yet visible. A parent may want to ask the school directly about recent changes in instruction, staffing, or student support to understand whether performance is stable, improving, or responding to specific initiatives.

The school's student body is economically diverse but weighted toward lower-income families. A large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which is consistent with Carrollton's broader economic profile. Enrollment is stable at just under a thousand students spread across seven grades, with roughly even class sizes in the elementary range. The school does not report counts of students receiving special-education services or English learner support in the available data.

Carrollton itself is a living landscape of established civic anchors and new growth. The downtown Adamson Square area hosts shops, galleries, restaurants, and cultural events including the AMP amphitheater. The 18-mile Carrollton GreenBelt offers a major pedestrian and bicycle spine, though the city as a whole is car-oriented with limited public transit. New residential development is expanding rapidly: Legacy Place, The Overlook at Oak Mountain, the Preserve at the Birches, and a planned workforce-housing apartment community called Carrollton Flats are all underway, with breaking ground and infrastructure completion occurring through the mid-2020s. This wave of new construction reflects Carrollton's absorption into the Atlanta metropolitan orbit and suggests rising enrollments ahead.

Housing costs in the zip code are moderate relative to national and Georgia benchmarks, with home values and monthly rents both sitting somewhat below state averages. This positioning may appeal to families seeking affordability closer to a city center than far suburban sprawl, though a parent should note that public transportation is limited and workplaces and services are spread out, making car dependence nearly universal.

The Carroll County schools benefit from recent voter approval of continued ESPLOST (Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) funding through 2032, which will support facility expansion and modernization without raising property taxes. The board has also cut the millage rate multiple times since 2007, a factor that improves the tax picture for homeowners. Central Elementary sits within this broader fiscal and growth context as a working, well-attended public elementary school serving a mixed-income community.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 358%

School 58% · District 53% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 18 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 476%

School 76% · District 53% · ▲ 23 pts above district

▲ 31 pts above state median · ▲ 22 pts above county median

Grade 567%

School 67% · District 50% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 29 pts above state median · ▲ 19 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 354%

School 54% · District 40% · ▲ 14 pts above district

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

Grade 450%

School 50% · District 43% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

Grade 555%

School 55% · District 44% · ▲ 10 pts above district

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Science

Grade 570%

School 70% · District 55% · ▲ 14 pts above district

▲ 31 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

Social studies

Grades 3-885%

School 85% · district not reported

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

This schoolCarroll 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 3Lower-income33%Higher-income70%37 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income41%Higher-income82%41 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income58%Higher-income88%30 pp gap

Grades 3-8Lower-income43%Higher-income80%36 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income52%Higher-income89%36 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income68%Higher-income96%29 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income64%Higher-income88%24 pp gap

Grades 3-8Lower-income61%Higher-income91%30 pp gap