The top reported proficiency rate is 27% in Math. The lowest is 19% in Social studies.
Original Research by School Decision on Pelham City Middle School
Pelham City Middle School is a small public middle school serving the rural southwest Georgia town of Pelham, in Mitchell County. The school enrolls a student body that is roughly three-fifths African American, one-quarter white, with smaller shares of Hispanic and other students. More than nine in ten students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic circumstances of the area and the broader Pelham economy, which centers on agriculture, a state correctional facility, manufacturing, and small retail.
The school's academic performance on state end-of-grade assessments is low across all tested subjects. In English language arts, proficiency ranges from around one in five students in grades six and eight to roughly one in five in grade seven. Mathematics performs somewhat better, with proficiency rising from about one in five in grade six to about one in three in grade eight. Science and social studies, tested only in grade eight, show proficiency near or below one in four. These results place the school in the bottom quartile among the four districts in Mitchell County when overall proficiency is measured across tested subjects and grades.
The school does not have a large enrollment. The three grades together total around three hundred students, with the sixth grade smaller than the seventh and eighth. No trend data across multiple years is available; the results presented here are from the most recent assessment year. Special education enrollment and English learner counts are not disclosed.
Pelham itself is a town in slow decline. Population has fallen over the past decade, the housing market moves slowly, and median home values and household income are well below national figures. The civic and economic center remains a historic downtown along a rail corridor, with a notable historic library serving as an anchor. A downtown revitalization effort through the local development authority is the main growth-related initiative. The school is one of three in the Pelham City School District, which operates a single elementary, one middle, and one high school within the town rather than on a consolidated campus far from the center.
A parent evaluating this school should recognize that the proficiency results are substantially below state benchmarks across every subject and grade. The school serves a student population with high economic hardship. Available data do not show what academic supports, instructional approaches, or specialized programs the school offers; a parent may want to look into these directly with the school, particularly regarding how the school addresses reading and mathematics performance in the middle grades.
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