Hill City Elementary School, Jasper GA

Original Research by School Decision on Hill City Elementary School

Hill City Elementary serves children in prekindergarten through fourth grade in Jasper, a county-seat town about fifty miles north of Atlanta that has become a bedroom community for the metro while keeping much of its small-town character. The school sits within Pickens County Schools, which serves a broader rural and suburban area across the county.

The school enrollment is a small-to-moderate size for its grade band. About two-thirds of the student body qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a marker of economic need. The student population is predominantly white, with a small Hispanic share and very few students of other backgrounds represented. Data on English learners and students receiving special education services was not available.

On state testing, the school shows uneven results across subjects and grades. In math, proficiency is moderate overall: third graders score just below the midpoint, while fourth graders reach into the upper half, suggesting students gain ground as they move up. Reading and language arts proficiency is lower across the board, with fewer than half of third and fourth graders meeting state standards in either grade. Science proficiency data from an earlier assessment year shows less than half the students tested meeting standards. A parent may want to look into this further with the school, particularly if reading support is a priority for their child.

Jasper itself is growing. The downtown has a walkable Main Street with local shops and restaurants anchoring civic life, and recent civic investments include a renovated library that reopened in 2023 after expansion. Large new residential developments, including townhome and single-family subdivisions, are underway or in planning stages as Atlanta commuters move north. The city has temporarily suspended new water and sewer connections due to infrastructure demand. Housing values in the area have risen modestly and sit somewhat above the state average, while rental costs remain near the national benchmark. Major employers include the hospital system, the school district itself, and retail corridors, alongside the legacy Georgia Marble operation in nearby Tate.

Pickens County Schools operates on a debt-free footing, which keeps the school millage rate lower than it would be if the district were bonded. In March 2025, voters renewed the Education SPLOST, a sales-tax measure that funds capital projects—renovations, technology, buses, security, and a planned new college and career center at the high school—without raising property taxes. This funding model has direct effects on facility quality and modernization. The district also faces a structural property-tax change: a new senior homestead exemption that took effect in 2025 reduces school-tax liability for residents over sixty-two with modest incomes, shifting more burden to working-age homeowners.

A parent considering Hill City should expect a small, economically mixed elementary school in a growing town with improving civic infrastructure and a district managed conservatively on the tax and borrowing front. The reading results warrant direct conversation with the school about literacy instruction and support available, especially if that is a family concern.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 349%

School 49% · District 47% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 9 pts above state median

Grade 465%

School 65% · District 64%

▲ 20 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 335%

School 35% · District 33% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 4 pts above state median

Grade 437%

School 37% · District 37%

▲ 3 pts above state median

Science

Grades 3-837%

School 37% · district not reported

▲ 4 pts above state median

Social studies

Grades 3-889%

School 89% · district not reported

▲ 6 pts above state median

This schoolPickens 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-income31%Higher-income53%21 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income18%Higher-income55%37 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income32%Higher-income60%28 pp gap

Grades 3-8Lower-income25%Higher-income54%28 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income49%Higher-income53%4 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income60%Higher-income85%25 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income23%Higher-income48%25 pp gap

Grades 3-8Lower-income54%Higher-income68%15 pp gap