Whit Davis Road Elementary School, Athens GA

Original Research by School Decision on Whit Davis Road Elementary School

Whit Davis Road Elementary School serves PreK through fifth grade in Clarke County and sits in Athens, a college town anchored by the University of Georgia. The school enrolls a small population, with a substantial share of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Demographically, the enrollment is majority Black, with sizable Hispanic and white populations and a smaller multi-racial cohort.

Academic performance, measured by Georgia's state assessments, shows proficiency rates that fall considerably below the midpoint. In English Language Arts, the school's proficiency rate hovers in the low range across grades three through five, with fourth grade particularly low. Mathematics proficiency shows a similar pattern, with fifth grade notably lower than third and fourth. Science proficiency in fifth grade sits around the same register. These results point to widespread gaps in core academic skills. A parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand what support systems are in place, what instructional changes are underway, and what the school's trajectory looks like.

The district itself has implemented a K-3 literacy curriculum grounded in the science of reading since August 2023, shifting to explicit phonics and phonemic awareness instruction while keeping struggling readers in the classroom. This change is intended to reshape how young children learn foundational reading skills. At the same time, the Clarke County Board of Education voted in February 2025 to opt out of Georgia's HB [homestead exemption], meaning homeowners in the district face larger annual property tax increases than they would in districts that opted in. Property taxes fund a significant share of the district's budget, so this decision carries weight for families considering a home purchase in the area.

Housing in the Athens 30605 zip code is moderately priced relative to national benchmarks, with steady modest appreciation and rental costs rising somewhat faster than homeownership costs. Athens itself is in active growth, with downtown redevelopment projects underway, a tight housing market, and major private-sector job announcements. The city blends a dense, walkable downtown anchored by UGA with suburban and rural edges; most of the county requires a car for daily errands.

Whit Davis Road sits on the eastern side of Athens, in the Whit Davis Road area. The school is a regular public elementary, not a charter or magnet program. No special education enrollment or English learner data were available; state testing does not apply to PreK and kindergarten. A parent considering this school should weigh current proficiency results, ask about the literacy curriculum rollout at the school level, and understand the property tax environment in Clarke County.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 337%

School 37% · District 38% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 441%

School 41% · District 38% · ▲ 3 pts above district

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

Grade 530%

School 30% · District 31% · ▼ 1 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 335%

School 35% · District 27% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

Grade 420%

School 20% · District 28% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 524%

School 24% · District 28% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Science

Grade 531%

School 31% · District 29% · ▲ 3 pts above district

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

Social studies

Grades 3-879%

School 79% · district not reported

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▲ 5 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.