Black's Mill Elementary School, Dawsonville GA

Original Research by School Decision on Black's Mill Elementary School

Black's Mill Elementary serves kindergarten through fifth grade in Dawsonville, a fast-growing small county seat in North Georgia about an hour north of Atlanta. The school sits at the center of a district experiencing rapid residential expansion, with new housing developments and a recently approved school-building program to accommodate that growth.

The school serves a student body that is predominantly white, with meaningful representation from Hispanic students and growing numbers of Asian and multiracial children. Just over half of the enrollment qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, placing the school in a middle range economically for its region. The school itself is mid-sized for an elementary serving grades K through 5.

On the most recent state assessments, Black's Mill's proficiency rates sit below the middle of the distribution across tested subjects. In math, students in grades three through five averaged proficiency rates in the low to mid-50s. In English language arts, the school averaged in the mid-40s across the same grades. In fifth-grade science, proficiency was below 40 percent. These numbers represent the students tested at the school on the 2024-25 Georgia assessments; the school has only one year of recent data available, so trend information is not yet available. A parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand what instructional supports or interventions are in place, and whether recent changes in curriculum, staffing, or approach show any movement.

Dawsonville itself is in the middle of a housing boom driven by metro Atlanta's northern sprawl. The median home value in the area is well above the state benchmark, and rents have risen modestly year over year. The town's character splits between a small historic downtown centered on the courthouse square, with walkable parks and the Chestatee Regional Library branch, and a much larger commercial corridor several miles south built around the North Georgia Premium Outlets. Schools are sited separately from the downtown core on campus-style properties.

The Dawson County School District, Black's Mill's parent district, has invested significantly in capacity for growth. In late 2023, voters approved the renewal of a sales tax for education with strong support, authorizing roughly a decade of funding for a new fifth elementary school, transportation facilities, and upgrades to existing buildings including elementary gyms. The district also opted in to Georgia's floating homestead exemption in early 2025, meaning that homesteaded properties in the district will see school tax valuations capped at the inflation rate rather than market-value growth, a meaningful feature for families considering a home purchase in the area.

For families weighing Black's Mill, the combination of middling current test results and a district investing in growth capacity suggests a school in transition. Current academic performance does not stand out, but the district's commitment to building infrastructure and the town's rapid development mean enrollment pressures and staffing changes are likely near-term realities. A family might best use a visit to the school itself to understand what supports exist for students not yet proficient and whether leadership has a coherent improvement plan underway.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 358%

School 58% · District 49% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 18 pts above state median

Grade 450%

School 50% · District 49% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 5 pts above state median

Grade 548%

School 48% · District 44% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 10 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 342%

School 42% · District 37% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 12 pts above state median

Grade 447%

School 47% · District 42% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 13 pts above state median

Grade 547%

School 47% · District 46% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 9 pts above state median

Science

Grade 540%

School 40% · District 46% · ▼ 6 pts below district

even with state median

Social studies

Grades 3-886%

School 86% · district not reported

▲ 2 pts above state median

This schoolDawson 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-income31%Higher-income44%13 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income23%Higher-income43%20 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income37%Higher-income60%23 pp gap

Grades 3-8Lower-income30%Higher-income49%18 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income40%Higher-income51%11 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income38%Higher-income69%30 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income37%Higher-income60%23 pp gap

Grades 3-8Lower-income38%Higher-income60%21 pp gap