Mount Carmel Elementary School, Hampton GA

Original Research by School Decision on Mount Carmel Elementary School

Mount Carmel Elementary School serves pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in Hampton, a growing suburban city south of Atlanta. The school's enrollment sits at about five hundred fifty students, a substantial share of whom qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The student body is predominantly Black, with meaningful Hispanic, white, and multiracial representation, and a small Asian population.

State testing results from the most recent school year show proficiency rates that fall well below what parents would typically expect. In English language arts across grades three through five, fewer than one-third of students scored at proficiency; by fifth grade that rate rose to about two in five, suggesting some growth in the upper elementary grades but from a low baseline. Math proficiency rates were similarly modest, ranging from roughly one-quarter in third grade to about two-fifths in fourth grade, with fifth-grade results back to about one-third. Science proficiency in fifth grade was comparable at about one-third. These results point to significant academic challenges in core subjects. A parent may want to look into this further with the school, asking about support programs, classroom composition, staffing stability, and the school's improvement strategy.

The broader Henry County context includes recent shifts that affect the entire district. Beginning in the 2025-2026 school year, all Henry County schools implemented a K-12 cell phone and smartwatch ban during the school day, a policy that goes further than state law and directly shapes how families communicate with their children during school hours. The district also approved new graduation requirements starting with the class of 2028, including a community service component, though this does not affect elementary students yet.

Hampton itself is a small, quiet, family-oriented city undergoing substantial growth. The historic downtown core along Central Avenue is compact and walkable, anchored by the Train Depot community center and featuring local businesses like Rutabaga's Market and a creamery. Outside that core, the city is car-dependent. Housing stock ranges from renovated 1910s homes downtown to newer subdivisions on the outskirts, with lot sizes producing an urban-rural mix. The area is experiencing active development: new subdivisions are adding homes in phases, and a large mixed-use development called The Grove, approved in early 2025, is planned for nearby along the highway. This growth context matters for school families because infrastructure, enrollment, and community composition are all in flux. The economic base includes the FAA's Atlanta Air Route Traffic Control Center, a major local employer, along with manufacturing and the speedway, which hosts two NASCAR races annually.

Mount Carmel sits within this growing district and community. It is a regular public elementary school, not a magnet or charter, and operates within the Henry County system. The school's low proficiency rates stand out as the most immediate consideration for families evaluating it. Understanding what academic support, tutoring, or intervention programs are in place, and what the school's trajectory has been, would be important next questions for a parent or resident.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 329%

School 29% · District 33% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 441%

School 41% · District 37% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Grade 536%

School 36% · District 28% · ▲ 8 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 326%

School 26% · District 29% · ▼ 3 pts below district

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

Grade 426%

School 26% · District 30% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 540%

School 40% · District 34% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Science

Grade 535%

School 35% · District 33% · ▲ 2 pts above district

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

Social studies

Grades 3-883%

School 83% · district not reported

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

This schoolHenry 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 3Lower-income14%Higher-income27%13 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income23%Higher-income50%27 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income46%Higher-income68%22 pp gap

Grades 3-8Lower-income28%Higher-income52%25 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income21%Higher-income60%39 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income34%Higher-income55%21 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income33%Higher-income57%24 pp gap

Grades 3-8Lower-income30%Higher-income57%27 pp gap