The top reported proficiency rate is 18% in English language arts. The lowest is 12% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Coile Middle School
Coile Middle School in Athens serves grades 6 through 8 and has an enrollment of just under six hundred students distributed roughly evenly across the three grades. The school is a regular public school in Clarke County School District.
Academically, Coile's proficiency rates across tested subjects are low. In math, the overall proficiency rate hovers around one in six students. Sixth-graders test at roughly one in seven proficient; seventh-graders at roughly one in ten; and eighth-graders at one in four, showing a slight uptick at the high end of the middle-grades span. English language arts proficiency is comparable, with all grades in the range of roughly one in five to one in six students meeting the state standard, except eighth grade, which reaches roughly one in five. Science proficiency in eighth grade sits at around one in eight students. Social studies proficiency in eighth grade stands at roughly one in six. These are low results across the board, and a parent considering Coile would want to understand what academic supports and interventions are in place to address these patterns, and what the school's plan is for improvement.
The student population is economically disadvantaged. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Racially and ethnically, the enrollment is majority Hispanic and Black, with smaller representations of white and multiracial students and one American Indian student.
The school sits in Athens, a college town anchored by the University of Georgia. The area has a mixed character: a walkable, vibrant downtown and campus core with dense residential historic districts nearby, but walkability drops off quickly outside that urban center, and most of the county requires a car. Housing values in the zip code where Coile is located are moderate relative to national benchmarks. The broader Athens-Clarke County area is in active growth, with major employment announcements, tight housing market conditions, and several large mixed-use development projects planned. The Clarke County School District has authorized capital investment through ESPLOST 6, a sales-tax measure that includes a new Clarke Middle School among its funded projects, though Coile is an existing school and that timeline is not specified here. The district also rolled out a new science-of-reading curriculum beginning in 2023 for K-3, a pedagogical shift toward phonics-based instruction that reshapes early literacy instruction but does not directly affect middle grades. The district voted in early 2025 to opt out of Georgia's homestead exemption law, meaning property tax assessments in the district are not capped at inflation, a decision that affects how homeowner property taxes rise and is therefore relevant to families weighing a home purchase in the district.
State assessment data was available only for the 2024-25 school year, so no multi-year trend data is present to show whether performance is moving, flat, or changing direction. Enrollment figures and grade-level breakdowns are provided, but data on staffing, attendance, chronic absenteeism, discipline, special education rates, or English learner enrollment were not available. The school serves middle grades only, so a graduation rate does not apply.
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