Shirley Hills Elementary School, Warner Robins GA

Original Research by School Decision on Shirley Hills Elementary School

Shirley Hills Elementary serves students in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in Warner Robins, a military-anchored city on the outskirts of the Warner Robins Air Force Base complex. The school sits within Houston County Schools, a fast-growing district that has held property tax rates flat while funding facility expansion and new career pathways through a recurring education sales tax.

The student body reflects Warner Robins' character as a transient, internationally diverse military town. A majority of students are Black, with substantial populations of white, Hispanic, and multiracial students. About three-quarters of the enrollment qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating significant economic need. The school is mid-sized for its grade band, with enrollment spread fairly evenly across the primary grades, including pre-K and kindergarten.

State testing results from 2025 show modest proficiency across math, reading, and science. In fourth grade, the school reaches about three in five students proficient in math and reading. In third and fifth grades, proficiency dips notably lower, with about two in five students meeting state standards in both subjects. Science proficiency in fifth grade sits at the lower end of that range. These numbers reflect the broader academic challenge across the school: English language arts proficiency averages under half, and math averages closer to half. For a parent considering this school, the data suggests that many students are not meeting grade-level benchmarks on state measures, and a parent may want to look into further detail with the school about intervention and support systems, particularly in the lower-performing grades and subjects.

Trend data spans only the current school year, so longer patterns of improvement or decline are not visible in this snapshot. An older social studies measure from 2011 showed stronger performance, but that assessment is no longer used statewide, making direct comparison impossible.

Warner Robins itself is one of Georgia's fastest-growing cities, expanding around new master-planned residential communities in the north and east, with a large transient population cycling through military assignments. The median home price in the zip code is moderate for the region, and rental affordability is tight, reflecting demand from military families and young professionals. The city is car-oriented, centered on arterial strips rather than walkable neighborhoods, though a downtown redevelopment is underway at Commercial Circle. Schools across the district, including Shirley Hills, are separated campuses served by car rather than clustered walkably.

The district has recently opened new schools to absorb growth, including a new primary school in 2023, and is building Veterans Middle School to relieve overcrowding. A major new STEM and Career Academy is scheduled to open in 2027 with dual-enrollment pathways, offering later options for students in the county. The district has cut property tax rates to their lowest level in years while funding these expansions through an education sales tax that voters have renewed and just extended again.

Shirley Hills is a regular public elementary school with no specialized designation. Program details beyond core academics were not available in the data reviewed.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 340%

School 40% · District 47% · ▼ 7 pts below district

even with state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 459%

School 59% · District 52% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Grade 541%

School 41% · District 48% · ▼ 7 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 339%

School 39% · District 41% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▲ 8 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 460%

School 60% · District 47% · ▲ 14 pts above district

▲ 26 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

Grade 549%

School 49% · District 52% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▲ 11 pts above state median · even with county median

Science

Grade 540%

School 40% · District 49% · ▼ 9 pts below district

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

Social studies

Grades 3-884%

School 84% · district not reported

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

This schoolHouston 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.