Patterson Elementary School, Patterson GA

Original Research by School Decision on Patterson Elementary School

Patterson Elementary School serves about half a thousand students in kindergarten through fifth grade in a rural setting on the Georgia-Florida border. The school sits on Drawdy Street in Patterson, a very small residential town in Pierce County with a population counted in the hundreds, located along US Highway 84 near Blackshear, the county seat.

The student body is predominantly white, with a smaller portion of Hispanic students and smaller representation of other groups. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the area's rural economy and household income patterns. The school does not report separately on special education or English learner enrollment, which is typical for schools of this type and size.

On state assessments in 2024-25, Patterson Elementary's test results show uneven performance across grade levels and subjects. In mathematics, the school achieved moderate proficiency in third grade and reasonable performance in fourth, but fifth-grade math proficiency declined notably. English language arts results were lower across the board, remaining around or just below the midpoint in grades three through five. Science proficiency in fifth grade sat at a mid-range level. The school's strongest recent result was a high proficiency rate in social studies from an earlier assessment period.

The grade-by-grade pattern in math and ELA suggests a strengthening trend from the primary grades, then a drop-off in the upper elementary years. Parents may want to look into what supports the school puts in place as students advance through fifth grade and transition to middle school, and whether the school identifies specific areas for instructional focus in the coming year.

The Pierce County School District has made a visible commitment to early literacy across all elementary schools, including Patterson. The district added dedicated literacy intervention specialists at the elementary level, and Patterson was subsequently recognized by the Georgia Department of Education as a Statewide Literacy Leader School. A major capital project is also bringing new classrooms and bathrooms to Patterson Elementary, with work expected to complete in January 2027. These changes signal investment in the school's physical plant and core instructional capacity.

Patterson Elementary is the sole elementary school within the town itself; students in the district who advance past fifth grade attend Pierce County Middle and High schools located near Blackshear. The housing market in Patterson remains very small and quiet, with a limited number of homes for sale at any time and modest population growth. The town's primary employer outside education is Cal-Maine Foods, a large feed-mill operation, along with a small cluster of local businesses and services. The broader region offers outdoor recreation through Laura S. Walker State Park and proximity to larger employment and service centers in Waycross and Blackshear.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 379%

School 79% · District 71% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▲ 39 pts above state median

Grade 472%

School 72% · District 69% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 27 pts above state median

Grade 562%

School 62% · District 55% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▲ 24 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 352%

School 52% · District 47% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 21 pts above state median

Grade 454%

School 54% · District 56% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▲ 20 pts above state median

Grade 555%

School 55% · District 54% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 17 pts above state median

Science

Grade 567%

School 67% · District 68% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 28 pts above state median

Social studies

Grades 3-895%

School 95% · district not reported

▲ 11 pts above state median

This schoolPierce 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.