Lamar Reese School of the Arts, Albany GA

Original Research by School Decision on Lamar Reese School of the Arts

Lamar Reese School of the Arts is a small public elementary school serving pre-K through fifth grade in Albany, Dougherty County. It sits in a neighborhood context where virtually all families qualify for free or reduced-price meals, and the student body is predominantly Black. The school draws from a mid-sized regional center with declining population but active housing development and a stable, multi-decade commitment to lowering school property tax rates.

On state assessments, the school's performance across math and English language arts falls below the proficiency midpoint. In the most recent school year, math proficiency ranged from around one-third of fifth-graders to roughly three-fifths of third-graders. English language arts proficiency was somewhat lower, ranging from around one-third of fourth-graders to roughly one-half of fifth-graders. Science performance is notably stronger, with around two-thirds of fifth-graders meeting proficiency. An older assessment in social studies showed solid results, though that data point comes from more than a decade ago and may not reflect current instruction.

The school identifies as a School of the Arts, a designation that signals a curricular focus on the arts alongside core academics. Beyond that framing, the available data does not detail the school's specific programming, staffing resources, or the depth of its arts offerings. A parent interested in understanding the arts integration in practice, the school's approach to addressing reading and math gaps, and what additional supports are available would benefit from a direct conversation with school leadership.

The enrollment is small, around the size typical for an elementary school serving this grade range, with roughly equal representation across most grades and slightly fewer fourth-graders. The community context shows Albany is a working regional hub with healthcare, manufacturing, and military payrolls, though population has declined gradually. Housing is affordable relative to national benchmarks, and the district has sustained a policy of lowering school property tax rates over nearly two decades, a noteworthy signal of fiscal restraint for families weighing a move to the area.

The district operates a teacher apprenticeship program registered with the U.S. Department of Labor, a structural initiative aimed at building a more stable and homegrown teaching workforce. For a school serving a high-poverty, predominantly single-race student population with below-midpoint proficiency in two of three tested subjects, parent engagement with school leadership around curriculum supports, intervention strategies, and the intended place of arts instruction within the school's academic work would help clarify what this particular school's trajectory and values are.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 360%

School 60% · District 31% · ▲ 28 pts above district

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

Grade 442%

School 42% · District 30% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

Grade 536%

School 36% · District 24% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 340%

School 40% · District 23% · ▲ 18 pts above district

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▲ 20 pts above county median

Grade 440%

School 40% · District 24% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

Grade 548%

School 48% · District 29% · ▲ 20 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 570%

School 70% · District 39% · ▲ 31 pts above district

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

Social studies

Grades 3-890%

School 90% · district not reported

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▲ 19 pts above county median

This schoolDougherty 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.