Heards Ferry Elementary School, Atlanta GA

Original Research by School Decision on Heards Ferry Elementary School

Heards Ferry Elementary is a pre-K through fifth-grade school serving a small to mid-sized enrollment in an affluent neighborhood on Atlanta's northwest side. The school sits in a zip code where median home values are in the mid-range for the metro area, with rents stable but elevated by national standards, and the housing market continues to reflect broader Atlanta growth pressures even as overall metro multifamily construction has slowed.

The school's student body is predominantly white, with smaller shares of multiracial, Black, Asian, and Hispanic students. A small fraction of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, well below district and state averages, reflecting the neighborhood's economic profile. Data on English learners and special education enrollment was not provided.

Academic performance is solid across the tested grades. In math, third graders reached proficiency at a high rate, with fourth and fifth grades slightly lower but still well above the midline. English language arts proficiency was strong in third and fifth grades, slightly lower in fourth. Fifth-grade science proficiency was in the low-to-mid range of reported assessments. Across tested subjects and grades, the school's overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile among Fulton County district schools. The school has one year of recent data, so trend analysis is not yet available.

Fulton County Schools has invested heavily in reading instruction through its "Every Child Reads" initiative, a major Science of Reading rollout launched in 2021 with federal pandemic funding. This means every K-5 classroom in the district, including Heards Ferry, now follows the same literacy framework with trained staff and school-based literacy coaches. The district reported measurable gains on Georgia Milestones reading assessments tied to this shift.

The school feeds into the wider Fulton County system, which has faced pressures around declining elementary enrollment in recent years. In early 2025, the district voted to close and consolidate two elementary schools with attendance-zone redistricting taking effect that year, signaling how enrollment pressures are reshaping attendance boundaries across the district. Families with school-age children moving into or within the district should confirm current attendance zones, as these can shift.

At the property-tax level, Fulton County has held its millage rate stable for several consecutive years, but home values have risen substantially, creating real property-tax increases even without rate changes. The district also opted out of Georgia's new statewide floating homestead exemption in early 2025, preserving its existing local cap on annual tax-bill growth. For homeowners, this means stable nominal rates but rising actual bills tied to home appreciation.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 388%

School 88% · District 58% · ▲ 30 pts above district

▲ 48 pts above state median · ▲ 49 pts above county median

Grade 482%

School 82% · District 62% · ▲ 19 pts above district

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

Grade 585%

School 85% · District 54% · ▲ 32 pts above district

▲ 48 pts above state median · ▲ 54 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 378%

School 78% · District 50% · ▲ 28 pts above district

▲ 47 pts above state median · ▲ 46 pts above county median

Grade 481%

School 81% · District 54% · ▲ 27 pts above district

▲ 46 pts above state median · ▲ 47 pts above county median

Grade 589%

School 89% · District 59% · ▲ 30 pts above district

▲ 50 pts above state median · ▲ 48 pts above county median

Science

Grade 581%

School 81% · District 56% · ▲ 26 pts above district

▲ 42 pts above state median · ▲ 46 pts above county median

Social studies

Grades 3-895%

School 95% · district not reported

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

This schoolFulton 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-income68%Higher-income86%17 pp gap

Mathematics

Grades 3-8Lower-income68%Higher-income90%22 pp gap