The top reported proficiency rate is 82% in Social studies. The lowest is 26% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Riverbend Elementary School
Riverbend Elementary School is a small school in Gainesville serving prekindergarten through fifth grade, with an enrollment distributed fairly evenly across its grade bands. The student body is roughly evenly split between white students and Hispanic students, with a substantial share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The school sits in Hall County Schools, which in fall 2024 consolidated Riverbend with White Sulphur Elementary into a new facility called Sandra Dunagan Deal Elementary. This means Riverbend as a separate campus no longer exists; families formerly assigned to Riverbend now attend the new school.
On state testing in math, English language arts, and science measured during the 2023-24 school year, proficiency rates at Riverbend were below midpoint levels. In math, about one-third of students tested met proficiency. In English language arts, the rate was similarly low. Science results were markedly lower still. The school's overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile among the two school districts in Hall County, though this reflects the data available rather than a strong absolute performance level. Testing data from an earlier, different assessment (social studies in 2013-14) showed much higher proficiency, but that older result is not directly comparable to current measures because the state changed both the assessment and the proficiency bar in the intervening years.
State assessment data does not include average scale scores or participation rates for this school, so a reader cannot see how far below or above the proficiency line students are scoring, or whether all students tested participated. The school's free-and-reduced-lunch rate of about 70 percent indicates a student population with substantial economic need. Data on English learners and special education enrollment is not available publicly for this school.
Gainesville is the Hall County seat, anchored by a revitalized historic downtown square surrounded by brick commercial buildings, with significant recent residential and mixed-use development underway. The city has a heavy base in manufacturing (automotive, food processing, poultry), healthcare (Northeast Georgia Medical Center is the dominant employer), and is experiencing rapid population growth as part of a fast-growing metro area. Housing costs in the local market are moderate compared to national averages, and rents have risen modestly in the past year. The city is walkable in its downtown and Midtown core but car-oriented in most outlying areas.
Hall County Schools recently passed a continuation of its education sales tax, which the district credits with avoiding property-tax increases and funding long-term capital needs including the new consolidated elementary schools. The district is consolidating older schools into larger, modern facilities with specialized spaces for STEM, arts, and culinary instruction. Families who were in Riverbend's attendance zone now attend Sandra Dunagan Deal Elementary, a new campus that opened in fall 2024. For anyone seeking information about Riverbend specifically, the school's closure as a separate entity means that any current enrollment, programs, or staffing questions would apply instead to its successor campus.
See more original research from School Decision →