Lake Park Elementary School, Lake Park GA

Original Research by School Decision on Lake Park Elementary School

Lake Park Elementary School serves grades pre-K through fifth grade in a small south Georgia city just off Interstate 75 near the Florida line. The school enrolls students across a full range of ages in early and elementary years, from a pre-K classroom through fifth grade, with enrollment distributed fairly evenly across the grade bands. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic profile of the area.

The school's student body is predominantly white, with a meaningful representation of Black and Hispanic students and smaller numbers of students from other racial and ethnic backgrounds. The racial composition reflects Lake Park itself, a small owner-occupied residential town that has grown steadily over the past two decades, mixing older residential streets with an interstate-oriented commercial strip serving travelers, alongside lakes and rural surroundings. The broader Lowndes County region includes Valdosta to the northwest, where most area employment is concentrated; Lake Park's local economy centers on outlet retail, hotels, and service jobs tied to the interstate corridor and nearby Wild Adventures Theme Park.

In state testing, Lake Park Elementary's proficiency results sit above the midpoint among Lowndes County's districts, when measured across tested subjects and grades. In math, students' proficiency across grades three through five ranges in the mid to upper range. In English language arts, proficiency is lower, running in the mid-40s across grades three through five, below the math results. Science proficiency at grade five reaches the mid-60s. A social-studies assessment from several years ago showed very high proficiency, though state testing practices have shifted since that result was recorded.

The school is currently situated in a transition. The Lowndes County School District, voters having approved an Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax in 2023, is constructing a brand-new Lake Park Elementary facility as part of a multi-year capital program that includes replacement and construction of schools especially in elementary and southern growth areas, alongside HVAC upgrades, technology improvements, and equipment purchases across the district. As of early 2025, the new building was under active construction. This means the school's current home and facilities are in flux, and families may want to check directly with the district for details on the transition timeline and how it affects instruction and class arrangements during the building phase.

The district has also adopted a policy restricting student cell-phone and smartwatch use during instructional time, aligned with Georgia's Distraction-Free Education Act, a pedagogical shift in classroom management that some families welcome and others view differently.

Lake Park Elementary occupies a position serving a working-and-middle-class residential area with significant family orientation. The setting is not walkable in the traditional sense; the town is auto-oriented and small, with civic anchors including a library, park, and post office clustered together. Secondary education is located elsewhere, as high school students attend Lowndes High School outside of Lake Park. For families in the area, this is the local elementary school for early and primary grades, situated in a stable but modest-income community experiencing steady population growth.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 361%

School 61% · District 61%

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

Grade 456%

School 56% · District 66% · ▼ 9 pts below district

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

Grade 557%

School 57% · District 60% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 340%

School 40% · District 43% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

Grade 445%

School 45% · District 48% · ▼ 3 pts below district

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

Grade 548%

School 48% · District 52% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Science

Grade 563%

School 63% · District 64% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Social studies

Grades 3-896%

School 96% · district not reported

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

This schoolLowndes 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.