The top reported proficiency rate is 91% in Social studies. The lowest is 50% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Blackburn Elementary School
Blackburn Elementary School is a small, traditional public elementary school in Dawsonville, Georgia, serving about three-quarters of a thousand students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. The enrollment skews heavily white, with a substantial share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, a figure that suggests the school serves a mixed-income attendance area even in a rapidly growing North Georgia community.
State testing results from the most recent year show mixed performance across the grade levels and subjects the school serves. In English language arts, third grade performs slightly above average while fourth grade is notably low; fifth grade rebounds to a more typical level. Mathematics shows a similar pattern, with proficiency strongest in third grade and declining in grades four and five. Fifth-grade science performance sits in the middle range. The most recent data point available is from social studies in 2013 and is not current, so a parent evaluating the school would want to look into the district's more recent literacy and math instruction practices directly with the school.
The Lumpkin County School District, which operates Blackburn and two other elementary schools alongside a middle school, junior high, and high school, has made deliberate changes in how literacy is taught in grades four and five. All three district elementary schools adopted Reading Horizons Elevate, a science-of-reading approach based on Orton-Gillingham principles, starting in the 2023-2024 school year. This district-wide shift in phonics instruction affects how upper-elementary students at Blackburn receive reading support, particularly those who struggle. It is a pedagogy change worth discussing with the school if reading performance matters heavily to your family's choice.
The district also opened a College and Career Academy in 2023, serving high school students with dual technical college coursework and career-pathway classes in partnership with Lanier Technical College. This represents a durable expansion of career and technical education options that did not exist locally before and opens adult certifications to students early. It does not affect Blackburn directly, but it shapes the pathway students follow after leaving elementary.
Financially, the district holds steady on its millage rate, but property tax bills have still risen because assessed values in the area are climbing. The school board voted to opt out of a statewide floating homestead exemption that took effect in 2025, meaning homeowners in Dawsonville should expect school tax bills to track local property appreciation rather than being capped to inflation. For families considering a move to the area, this is a lasting signal about cost of ownership.
Dawsonville itself is a small county seat in the foothills, about an hour north of metro Atlanta, with a historic downtown around the courthouse square and a much larger outlet-mall-anchored commercial corridor along the highway. The area is experiencing rapid residential growth, with multiple townhome and single-family developments under construction or planned. Housing values are moderate relative to the national benchmark, and median rents reflect tight conditions. The town is car-dependent, with no fixed-route public transit; daily life centers on Main Street Park downtown, a multi-use civic space with trails, playgrounds, disc golf, and a skate park. Schools are sited on separate campuses outside the downtown core rather than embedded in the town itself.
Blackburn serves this growth corridor as a standard elementary school without specialized magnet programming or charter status. The comparison universe available for this school contains only the school district itself, so placement relative to other county elementary schools is not available in the data. A parent considering Blackburn would benefit from visiting the school, reviewing current test data and literacy instruction with staff, and asking about class sizes and support for students performing below grade level, particularly in the lower-performing grades four and five.
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