Vanderlyn Elementary School, Dunwoody GA

Original Research by School Decision on Vanderlyn Elementary School

Vanderlyn Elementary is a small, mixed-composition school serving grades from pre-K through fifth grade in Dunwoody's northern residential neighborhoods. Its enrollment sits at the low end for an elementary school, with about half the student body white, a quarter Asian, and the remainder split among Black, Hispanic, and multiracial families. A small share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the affluent character of much of the Dunwoody attendance zone.

The school's test results in math stand out as a genuine strength. Across third, fourth, and fifth grade, proficiency rates climb from around seven-tenths in third grade to nearly four-fifths by fifth grade, showing both solid baseline achievement and clear momentum. English language arts performance is somewhat lower, with third-grade results around two-thirds proficient and fourth grade rising to about three-quarters, though fifth grade dips back down. Fifth-grade science shows proficiency at about two-thirds. These results place the school in the top quartile among DeKalb County's school districts on overall proficiency, a meaningful achievement gap above the county median.

Vanderlyn sits within DeKalb County School District at a moment of significant structural change. The district's Student Assignment Project, launched in 2024, is reshaping attendance boundaries and flagging dozens of schools for possible closure or consolidation over the next several years. The Dunwoody cluster is among those potentially affected, and families should understand that boundaries and school assignments in this area remain in flux pending a final recommendation to the Board of Education in December 2026. That uncertainty is real, and a parent buying or renting in this zone should request current boundary information directly from the district.

The housing context around Dunwoody is strong. Single-family homes in the area command values well above the national benchmark, with a modest but positive year-on-year trend. Rents are correspondingly high. The broader city is in active redevelopment, particularly around the High Street mixed-use district near the Dunwoody MARTA station, which will bring apartments, offices, and retail and may shift the area's character over time. Most of Dunwoody remains suburban and auto-oriented, though that too is changing as planners work to make Perimeter Center more walkable and transit-connected. For families, this means a relatively affluent, established neighborhood with significant growth underway nearby—a place where demographic and commercial change will be visible over the next few years.

Vanderlyn itself is too small an entity to serve all grade bands, so it has no high school outcomes or graduation data to report. District-level information shows strong teacher salary increases over recent years and a voter-approved E-SPLOST referendum funding new buildings and program academies, though the school millage rate remains among Georgia's highest and property taxes have continued to climb despite the district's rollback efforts. A parent evaluating this school should treat the test results as solid and the location as desirable, while staying informed about the district's ongoing boundary and consolidation work.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 373%

School 73% · District 34% · ▲ 39 pts above district

▲ 33 pts above state median · ▲ 45 pts above county median

Grade 475%

School 75% · District 35% · ▲ 41 pts above district

▲ 30 pts above state median · ▲ 42 pts above county median

Grade 579%

School 79% · District 32% · ▲ 47 pts above district

▲ 41 pts above state median · ▲ 53 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 367%

School 67% · District 30% · ▲ 37 pts above district

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

Grade 477%

School 77% · District 30% · ▲ 47 pts above district

▲ 43 pts above state median · ▲ 51 pts above county median

Grade 567%

School 67% · District 35% · ▲ 32 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 567%

School 67% · District 33% · ▲ 34 pts above district

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

Social studies

Grades 3-899%

School 99% · district not reported

▲ 15 pts above state median · ▲ 30 pts above 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.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grades 3-8Lower-income57%Higher-income80%22 pp gap

Mathematics

Grades 3-8Lower-income29%Higher-income84%56 pp gap