Winterville Elementary School, Winterville GA

Original Research by School Decision on Winterville Elementary School

Winterville Elementary serves children in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in a small, established town just outside Athens. The school enrolls about the size typical for its grade span in Clarke County, with a student body that is roughly forty percent Black, thirty-three percent Hispanic, and the remainder white, Asian, or multiracial. A large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting substantial economic need among the families the school serves.

The school's state assessment results are low across the board. In mathematics, proficiency ranges from around one in five students in fourth grade to about one in three in third grade. English language arts proficiency is similarly constrained, with fewer than one in four students meeting the state standard in any tested grade. Science proficiency in fifth grade sits at roughly one in three. The only historical data available comes from a 2014 social studies assessment, which showed proficiency around three in four, but that exam has since been retired and is not comparable to current state tests. Only one year of recent test results is available, so trend information is absent; a parent may want to ask the school directly about whether the 2024-25 results represent stability, improvement, or change from prior years.

Winterville Elementary is located in the town of Winterville, a small residential community of established neighborhoods and historic homes, with a walkable downtown anchored by a restored train depot, library, and civic buildings. The town has modest growth—most of its housing stock predates recent decades, and the community has chosen to prioritize historic preservation and incremental development rather than large new subdivisions. Families here tend to work in education, healthcare, and retail, many employed by the University of Georgia or Athens-area employers a short distance away. Housing values are moderate for the region, and rents run moderate as well.

The Clarke County School District, which operates Winterville Elementary, serves the broader Athens-Clarke County area and has made deliberate curriculum choices at the elementary level. Beginning in 2023, the district shifted K-3 reading instruction toward explicit phonics and phonemic awareness, moving away from guided-reading approaches. This is the pedagogical framework now in place at Winterville Elementary. Additionally, the district passed a capital-improvement referendum in 2021 that funds renovations and new construction across its schools; Winterville Elementary is among the schools receiving facility upgrades under this program. A recent property-tax development is also relevant for families considering a home purchase: the district opted out of Georgia's floating homestead exemption in 2025, meaning homeowners in the district may see larger annual property tax increases than in districts that adopted the exemption.

For assessment results and other quantitative detail, see the data panels on this page.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 332%

School 32% · District 38% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 421%

School 21% · District 38% · ▼ 17 pts below district

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 18 pts below county median

Grade 523%

School 23% · District 31% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 323%

School 23% · District 27% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 421%

School 21% · District 28% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 523%

School 23% · District 28% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Science

Grade 534%

School 34% · District 29% · ▲ 5 pts above district

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

Social studies

Grades 3-875%

School 75% · district not reported

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

This schoolClarke 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.