Ashworth Middle School, Calhoun GA

Original Research by School Decision on Ashworth Middle School

Ashworth Middle School serves grades six through eight in Calhoun, the county seat of Gordon County in northwest Georgia. The school draws from a community anchored by the flooring and carpet industry, with Interstate 75 and U.S. Highway 41 connecting the area to Atlanta and Chattanooga. Calhoun itself is a mid-sized city with a compact, walkable historic downtown core and a sustained in-migration wave tied to new housing developments and warehouse and logistics employment growth along the I-75 corridor.

The enrollment at Ashworth is roughly mid-sized for its grade span, with a substantial majority of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The student population is predominantly white with a meaningful Hispanic share and smaller numbers of other races and ethnicities. Data on the count of English learners and students receiving special education services were not available, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about those populations if that context matters to their family.

Ashworth's academic performance is below the mid-range when compared against other districts in Gordon County. In math, proficiency rates climb from the sixth grade through eighth, with eighth grade showing relatively stronger performance than the lower grades. In English language arts, proficiency is modestly higher across all three grades than in math, but the trajectory is similar. Science and social studies assessments are administered only in eighth grade; the school showed higher proficiency in science than in ELA or math. Across all tested subjects and grades, Ashworth's overall proficiency sits in the bottom quartile among districts in its county. Only one year of testing data was available, so a picture of whether performance is improving, stable, or declining cannot be drawn from the records provided.

The broader district context includes a renewal of the education sales tax (ESPLOST) through June 2027, which has funded renovations, technology upgrades, and bond-financed capital projects without raising property tax rates. At the same time, property taxes on school-age children's homes are rising as assessed values climb following countywide reassessment, even though the millage rate itself was held flat. Parents should also know that Georgia's new homestead exemption, effective January 1, 2025, caps annual increases in assessed value to the inflation rate for owner-occupied homes, which will moderate future tax growth, though the school system has the option to decline participation.

Calhoun and Gordon County are in active growth. New residential subdivisions are under construction, multifamily housing is expanding, and the area is positioning itself as a destination for families relocating from higher-cost regions. Housing values and rents are both moderate relative to state and national benchmarks, and affordability metrics suggest that renting or buying in the area remains accessible on typical household incomes for families drawn to the district.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 628%

School 28% · District 37% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 3 pts below state median

Grade 731%

School 31% · District 37% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 3 pts below state median

Grade 845%

School 45% · District 50% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▲ 3 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 637%

School 37% · District 41% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▲ 1 pts above state median

Grade 737%

School 37% · District 37%

▲ 2 pts above state median

Grade 840%

School 40% · District 41% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 5 pts above state median

Science

Grade 843%

School 43% · District 42% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 16 pts above state median

Social studies

Grade 838%

School 38% · District 38%

▲ 7 pts above state median

This schoolGordon 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

Grade 6Lower-income32%Higher-income65%34 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income38%Higher-income53%15 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income32%Higher-income58%27 pp gap

Grades 3-8Lower-income33%Higher-income57%24 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income19%Higher-income26%7 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income37%Higher-income63%27 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income33%Higher-income47%15 pp gap

Grades 3-8Lower-income29%Higher-income50%21 pp gap