Stephenson Middle School, Stone Mountain GA

Original Research by School Decision on Stephenson Middle School

Stephenson Middle School serves students in grades 6 through 8 in Stone Mountain, a small DeKalb County city with a revitalized downtown core and growing residential neighborhoods. The school sits within the boundary of DeKalb County School District, which is currently undertaking a major multi-year Student Assignment Project that could reshape school assignments and close dozens of buildings by the end of the decade. For a family choosing this school, that district-wide restructuring is a meaningful backdrop.

The student body at Stephenson is predominantly Black, with Latino and mixed-race students making up the rest of the enrollment. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and the school draws from a neighborhood where housing has been relatively stable in recent years. Employment in Stone Mountain itself centers on manufacturing, hospitality tied to the regional park and mountain attraction, and service industries, with proximity to Atlanta employers shaping broader job opportunities for working families.

State proficiency data show that the school faces significant academic headwinds across all tested subjects. In English language arts, proficiency rates range from low in grade 6 to modest in grade 8. Math proficiency is similarly low, with the strongest performance in grade 8 but still below what is typical for middle-grade performance statewide. Science and social studies results, reported only for grade 8, sit well below proficiency benchmarks. Overall proficiency across all tested subjects and grades places the school above the midpoint among districts in DeKalb County, but that positioning reflects the district's broader context rather than a strength relative to state performance. A parent may want to look into further what instructional supports and interventions the school has in place to address these gaps, particularly in foundational math skills where early-grade performance appears weakest.

The school's enrollment is stable at roughly the size typical for a middle school, with grades evenly distributed. DeKalb's property-tax millage rate has been gradually reduced for three consecutive years, though rising home values mean actual tax bills have climbed. The housing market in the Stone Mountain zip code has seen modest price adjustment and steady rental demand. The district is also making capital investments in new and renovated facilities through E-SPLOST VI funding, which runs through 2027, though Stephenson is not named as a project site in the publicly available plans.

The neighborhood itself offers genuine walkability in the historic village core, with Main Street shops and restaurants within a short distance, along with the Stone Mountain-Sue Kellogg Library and the adjacent PATH trail system. For families not within the village, broader Stone Mountain is more conventionally suburban and car-dependent. School assignment in DeKalb may shift as the Student Assignment Project unfolds; families should factor in that ongoing redistricting and stay informed about cluster-level decisions affecting this school's boundaries and possible consolidations.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 612%

School 12% · District 23% · ▼ 11 pts below district

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

Grade 722%

School 22% · District 26% · ▼ 4 pts below district

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

Grade 831%

School 31% · District 34% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 621%

School 21% · District 31% · ▼ 9 pts below district

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

Grade 724%

School 24% · District 30% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 827%

School 27% · District 32% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Science

Grade 822%

School 22% · District 25% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 821%

School 21% · District 23% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 10 pts below state median · even with 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.