Bessie L. Baggett Elementary, Powder Springs GA

Original Research by School Decision on Bessie L. Baggett Elementary

Bessie L. Baggett Elementary serves pre-K through fifth grade in Powder Springs, a primarily residential suburban city about a short drive northwest of Atlanta. The school sits in a growth corridor: Powder Springs is adding multifamily housing downtown and single-family neighborhoods to the south, while the surrounding Paulding County area is expanding steadily. Voters recently approved a continued sales tax for education, and the district is opening new capacity, including a new elementary school in 2026, which means attendance boundaries may shift for families in this area.

The school's enrollment is typical for its grade band, and a substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic composition of the neighborhoods it serves. The student body is racially mixed, with roughly equal shares of Black, white, and Hispanic students, and a smaller share of students from other backgrounds.

Academic performance on state assessments is below proficiency benchmarks across all tested subjects. In mathematics, proficiency rates range from the low-mid to high-30s across grades three through five. In English language arts, proficiency rates are in the low-to-mid 20s. Science proficiency at grade five sits in the low-to-mid 20s. These results reflect areas where the school and families may want to focus support. An older snapshot of social studies proficiency from the early 2010s showed higher performance, but recent data in that subject are not available because it is no longer regularly tested at these grade levels in Georgia.

The school operates as a regular public school within the Paulding County system, which has broader strengths that may matter to families considering the area. The district's high schools earned recognition as AP Honor Schools, and the graduation rate for the class of 2024 exceeded the state average. The district has also maintained stable funding through voter-approved sales tax renewals and is investing in facility improvements, including science and career-technical labs.

Within the immediate Powder Springs setting, the city offers trail access connecting schools and neighborhoods to the historic downtown and the regional Silver Comet Trail system, and civic anchors like parks and a library. Housing values and rental costs are near national benchmarks, and employment sectors serving the area include education, healthcare, warehousing, and retail.

A parent evaluating this school should weigh the current proficiency results against the school's size, community context, and the district's investment in infrastructure and higher-grade pathways. The data suggest a need for academic support at the elementary level; talking directly with the school about intervention programs, instructional approaches, and how families can reinforce learning at home would help shape expectations and involvement.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 331%

School 31% · District 47% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 15 pts below county median

Grade 436%

School 36% · District 46% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 535%

School 35% · District 43% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 323%

School 23% · District 33% · ▼ 10 pts below district

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

Grade 427%

School 27% · District 38% · ▼ 11 pts below district

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

Grade 525%

School 25% · District 40% · ▼ 15 pts below district

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▼ 15 pts below county median

Science

Grade 525%

School 25% · District 36% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Social studies

Grades 3-884%

School 84% · district not reported

even with state median · ▼ 1 pts below 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-income26%Higher-income47%21 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income15%Higher-income54%39 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income28%Higher-income36%9 pp gap

Grades 3-8Lower-income23%Higher-income46%24 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income39%Higher-income50%11 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income17%Higher-income63%45 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income17%Higher-income36%20 pp gap

Grades 3-8Lower-income24%Higher-income50%26 pp gap