Salem Middle School, Lithonia GA

Original Research by School Decision on Salem Middle School

Salem Middle School serves grades six through eight in Lithonia, a small city in eastern DeKalb County with a historic downtown and strong community ties rooted in granite quarrying. The school sits in a developing corridor near Stonecrest and Interstate 20, where new residential construction and transit-oriented planning are reshaping the area.

The school's enrollment is about average for its grade band, with a substantially balanced distribution across the three grades. The student body is predominantly Black or African American, reflecting Lithonia's population composition. All students enrolled qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a community where economic need is universal across the school.

Academic performance presents a significant challenge. State assessment results show proficiency rates that are substantially below county averages across all tested subjects and grades. In mathematics, proficiency ranges from low in sixth and seventh grades to slightly higher in eighth grade, though still well below the county median. English language arts proficiency similarly sits in the low single digits to low teens across grades. Science and social studies proficiency in eighth grade are also quite low. When proficiency across all tested subjects and grades is averaged together, Salem ranks in the bottom quartile among DeKalb County's eight districts. The school has only one year of recent testing data available, so trend direction cannot be determined.

Lithonia itself is a walkable community centered on a pedestrian-friendly historic district with tree-lined streets, local shops, and the Lithonia-Davidson Library serving as a civic anchor. The Arabia Mountain PATH, a paved multi-use trail system, connects downtown to natural preserves and state parks. Employment remains dispersed; while the area has historical roots in manufacturing and lighting, today's jobs cluster in nearby commercial nodes like the Mall at Stonecrest and throughout the wider Atlanta metro.

The housing market in the area is moderately valued compared to state and national benchmarks, with recent year-over-year home values down modestly. Rental costs have ticked upward. New residential construction by national builders is underway, including townhome communities and affordable apartment complexes on former commercial sites, reflecting planned growth along the I-20 corridor. MARTA bus service and a commuter bus park-and-ride provide transit connections to downtown and Midtown Atlanta.

A parent may want to look into Salem's academic support structures, intervention programs, and any targeted initiatives addressing the proficiency gap, since current state testing data shows the school well behind its district peers. DeKalb County's Student Assignment Project, a multi-year redistricting and consolidation effort launched in 2024, could also reshape school boundaries and assignments over the coming years, making attendance patterns less certain than they might otherwise be.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 67%

School 7% · District 23% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Grade 78%

School 8% · District 26% · ▼ 18 pts below district

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

Grade 816%

School 16% · District 34% · ▼ 18 pts below district

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 614%

School 14% · District 31% · ▼ 17 pts below district

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

Grade 712%

School 12% · District 30% · ▼ 18 pts below district

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 21 pts below county median

Grade 814%

School 14% · District 32% · ▼ 18 pts below district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 18 pts below county median

Science

Grade 810%

School 10% · District 25% · ▼ 15 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 87%

School 7% · District 23% · ▼ 16 pts below district

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

This schoolDeKalb 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.