Murdock Elementary School, Marietta GA

Original Research by School Decision on Murdock Elementary School

Murdock Elementary is a regular public school serving prekindergarten through fifth grade in Marietta, Georgia, within Cobb County. The school enrolls a student body of roughly nine hundred, with a majority white student population, substantial Asian and Hispanic representation, and a modest share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The school sits in a middle-income suburban setting in a city balancing a historic downtown core with newer residential development and anchor employers like Lockheed Martin and Wellstar Health System.

On state assessments, Murdock shows solid performance in math and science. In math, proficiency runs strong across grades three through five, with the upper grades at particularly high levels. In English language arts, the school achieved overall proficiency in the mid-to-high range, with fifth grade notably stronger than third. Science proficiency in fifth grade is solid. Across these subjects and grades, the school's overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile among Cobb County's districts, a meaningful position relative to its peers in the region.

The pattern across grades and subjects suggests the school has built strength in computational and problem-solving foundations that extend through the upper elementary years, while reading and writing development is steady though with some spread across grades. Math is clearly a strength area. The school has not reported trend data across multiple years, so whether these results reflect ongoing momentum or a snapshot cannot be determined from available information.

The student population is relatively economically stable compared to many elementary schools, with about thirteen percent of students in the free or reduced-price lunch program. Enrollment is full across all grades, with older grades slightly larger than younger ones. Demographic diversity is real: roughly one in five students identifies as Asian, roughly one in eleven as Hispanic, and roughly one in fourteen as Black, alongside a white majority. This composition shapes a peer environment that is neither highly concentrated nor evenly distributed.

Murdock is a standalone school, not a magnet or charter, operating as part of Cobb County's regular public system. The school building is located on Murdock Road in Marietta, a position within a suburban streetscape typical of the broader metro Atlanta area. Housing around Marietta is appreciating modestly, with home values and rental costs moving at rates slightly below state and national benchmarks. The area supports a mixed residential character, from older single-family neighborhoods to newer subdivisions and townhome infill, particularly near the downtown square. Marietta itself is growing through new housing projects and downtown mixed-use redevelopment, which may influence school enrollment and community character over coming years.

Data on chronic absenteeism, special education enrollment rates, English learner counts, and discipline are not available, so a parent should reach out directly to the school for detail on those topics if they are important to the family. Similarly, no multi-year trend was provided, making it impossible to assess whether academic results are stable, rising, or changing. The school's website and a conversation with the principal or administrative staff would fill those gaps.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 378%

School 78% · District 50% · ▲ 27 pts above district

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

Grade 484%

School 84% · District 57% · ▲ 27 pts above district

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

Grade 584%

School 84% · District 49% · ▲ 35 pts above district

▲ 46 pts above state median · ▲ 41 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 366%

School 66% · District 43% · ▲ 23 pts above district

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

Grade 475%

School 75% · District 47% · ▲ 28 pts above district

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

Grade 579%

School 79% · District 49% · ▲ 30 pts above district

▲ 40 pts above state median · ▲ 32 pts above county median

Science

Grade 578%

School 78% · District 45% · ▲ 33 pts above district

▲ 39 pts above state median · ▲ 37 pts above county median

Social studies

Grades 3-898%

School 98% · district not reported

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

This schoolCobb 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-income50%Higher-income85%35 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income48%Higher-income79%31 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income59%Higher-income87%28 pp gap

Grades 3-8Lower-income52%Higher-income84%31 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income59%Higher-income89%30 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income67%Higher-income88%21 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income68%Higher-income83%15 pp gap

Grades 3-8Lower-income65%Higher-income87%22 pp gap