Mcgarity Elementary School, Hiram GA

Original Research by School Decision on Mcgarity Elementary School

McGarity Elementary School serves grades pre-K through five in Hiram, a growing suburban Paulding County community northwest of Atlanta. The school has a student body of roughly six hundred, with a substantial majority of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch and a racially mixed enrollment split fairly evenly between white and Black students, alongside Hispanic, multiracial, and a very small number of Asian students.

The school's academic performance shows consistent strain across tested grades and subjects. In English language arts, proficiency ranges from around 30 percent in third grade to roughly 39 percent in fifth grade, with fourth grade near 32 percent. Mathematics shows somewhat higher proficiency in third grade, near 56 percent, but drops sharply to 32 percent in fourth grade before recovering to roughly 46 percent in fifth grade. Science proficiency in fifth grade stands at about 27 percent. These numbers indicate that roughly one-quarter to two-thirds of students in each tested grade are not meeting state proficiency standards in reading, writing, and math, with the steepest challenges in fourth-grade math and science at all grade levels.

The school sits in Paulding County, one of the fastest-growing metropolitan Atlanta counties, where the district has recently approved new school openings and boundary adjustments. McGarity is among seven elementary schools whose attendance zones are being realigned as the district opens Crossroads Elementary in 2026 and manages rapid population growth. For parents considering a move to the area, this boundary instability is worth tracking with the district directly, as school assignments for new homes may shift. At the same time, Paulding County voters have approved continued sales-tax funding for schools through E-SPLOST, keeping property taxes flat for education, which affects the overall cost of home ownership in communities like Hiram.

The locale itself is a mixed-character place with a small historic downtown along Main Street and a car-oriented commercial strip along the highway corridor that functions as the county's retail hub. Most residents commute to jobs elsewhere in greater Atlanta. Housing has grown substantially in recent years, with new subdivisions and townhome communities expanding the housing stock, and median home values sit modestly below the Georgia state benchmark. Rent has risen slightly year-over-year. Ben Hill Strickland Park downtown and the Silver Comet Trail trailhead offer community gathering spaces and walking and cycling access.

At the school district level, all five Paulding County high schools earned AP Honor School status for 2026 and the district's four-year graduation rate for the class of 2024 rose to a point above the Georgia state average, signaling district-level academic momentum. However, McGarity's early elementary proficiency numbers do not yet reflect that trajectory. A parent evaluating McGarity should seek clarity from the school on the specific reading and math supports in place, particularly for fourth-grade students, and understand that boundary changes may affect future enrollment and school assignment.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 356%

School 56% · District 47% · ▲ 8 pts above district

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

Grade 432%

School 32% · District 46% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Grade 546%

School 46% · District 43% · ▲ 3 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 330%

School 30% · District 33% · ▼ 2 pts below district

even with state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Grade 432%

School 32% · District 38% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 539%

School 39% · District 40% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 1 pts above state median · even with county median

Science

Grade 527%

School 27% · District 36% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Social studies

Grades 3-888%

School 88% · district not reported

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

This schoolPaulding 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-income34%Higher-income53%19 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income23%Higher-income55%32 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income23%Higher-income56%33 pp gap

Grades 3-8Lower-income27%Higher-income55%28 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income48%Higher-income66%18 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income25%Higher-income55%31 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income15%Higher-income36%21 pp gap

Grades 3-8Lower-income29%Higher-income52%24 pp gap