Johnnie Lay Burks Elementary School, Athens GA

Original Research by School Decision on Johnnie Lay Burks Elementary School

Johnnie Lay Burks Elementary serves grades pre-K through five in a neighborhood setting in Athens, a college town shaped by the University of Georgia. The school enrolls a mixed student body of about that size for an elementary school; roughly half the enrollment qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting economic diversity in the school's catchment. The school's student composition is white plurality, with Black students representing a substantial share, as well as smaller representations of Hispanic, multiracial, Asian, and other students.

In academic performance on Georgia's end-of-grade assessments, the school shows mixed results across grades three through five. In English language arts, proficiency rates hover near the midpoint across tested grades, with third grade slightly above fifth grade. Math proficiency trends downward as students advance through the grades, with performance lower in the upper elementary years than in third grade. Science proficiency in fifth grade sits around the middle range. These results suggest the school serves a student population with varied preparation and ongoing challenges in math progression, particularly as students move into the latter elementary years. A parent may want to look into further with the school what interventions are underway to strengthen math proficiency in grades four and five, and what support systems exist for students who do not meet grade-level benchmarks.

The school is part of Clarke County School District, which in August 2023 rolled out a district-wide shift in reading instruction for grades K-3, moving from guided-reading approaches to explicit phonics and phonemic awareness instruction grounded in the science of reading. This curriculum change directly affects students at Burks in the primary grades. The district also approved capital improvements through ESPLOST 6, an education sales tax that funds major renovations and facility upgrades; however, data on whether Burks itself is slated for substantial renovation was not available.

A notable district-level decision relevant to families weighing a home purchase: in February 2025, the Clarke County Board of Education voted to opt out of Georgia's statewide homestead exemption, which means property tax assessments in the district are not capped at the prior year's inflation rate. Since property taxes fund a substantial share of district revenue, this means homeowners in Clarke County may see larger annual increases in school property taxes than residents of districts that adopted the exemption. This is a durable factor for families making long-term housing decisions.

The 30601 zip code where the school is located shows moderate home values relative to state and national benchmarks, with median rent also in the mid-range for the region. The broader Athens area is in an active growth phase with significant private-sector investment and mixed-use development projects underway downtown and in surrounding neighborhoods, including new housing construction and redevelopment. The University of Georgia dominates employment, with additional major employers in healthcare, manufacturing, and food processing.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 360%

School 60% · District 38% · ▲ 22 pts above district

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 21 pts above county median

Grade 454%

School 54% · District 38% · ▲ 16 pts above district

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▲ 15 pts above county median

Grade 545%

School 45% · District 31% · ▲ 14 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 357%

School 57% · District 27% · ▲ 31 pts above district

▲ 27 pts above state median · ▲ 33 pts above county median

Grade 454%

School 54% · District 28% · ▲ 26 pts above district

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

Grade 558%

School 58% · District 28% · ▲ 30 pts above district

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 30 pts above county median

Science

Grade 553%

School 53% · District 29% · ▲ 24 pts above district

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 20 pts above county median

Social studies

Grades 3-886%

School 86% · district not reported

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▲ 12 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.