Blackshear Elementary School, Blackshear GA

Original Research by School Decision on Blackshear Elementary School

Blackshear Elementary serves pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in Blackshear, a county seat of about rural south Georgia where timber, agriculture, and light manufacturing anchor the local economy. The school draws from a community with modest housing values and a substantial population of families with limited income; a large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and the school's enrollment is distributed fairly evenly across grades, with somewhat higher numbers in the younger grades.

On state assessments, the school's proficiency rates show a mixed picture with meaningful variation by grade and subject. In math, third graders show solid grounding just above the midpoint; fourth graders reach a healthier level of proficiency; but fifth graders drop back below the midpoint. Reading fluency and comprehension follow a similar pattern: third-grade proficiency is below the midpoint, fourth grade climbs to near the midpoint, and fifth grade falls back again to the lower end. Science proficiency, tested in fifth grade alone, lands near the midpoint. A parent may want to look into further detail with the school on what happens to reading and math achievement in the transition to upper elementary and how intervention is structured at that level.

The school's student body is predominantly white with a meaningful share of Black students and a smaller Hispanic population. The racial composition differs from the surrounding region's profile, and enrollment data on students with IEPs or English learners is not publicly reported, so a family with a child in either group would want to inquire directly about services and staffing.

At the district level, two pieces of recent change matter for Blackshear families. The Pierce County School District has built a dedicated literacy intervention staffing model across its elementary schools, placing literacy intervention specialists at Blackshear, Midway, and Patterson; two of those schools earned state recognition as Literacy Leader Schools, a signal that early-reading support is now structurally embedded in the elementary pathway. The district is also expanding physical capacity at two schools through a major capital project with occupancy targeted for early 2027, which will add classrooms and facilities to meet growing demand.

Blackshear Elementary sits within a school system serving a region where affordable housing, modest family income, and industrial employment (forest products, minerals, light manufacturing) shape daily life. The community has a historic downtown and relies entirely on personal vehicles for mobility. If you are choosing between elementary schools in Pierce County or considering the Blackshear area, the school offers a neighborhood setting with recent investment in early literacy and a district committing resources to building capacity for the near term.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 359%

School 59% · District 71% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▲ 19 pts above state median

Grade 471%

School 71% · District 69% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 26 pts above state median

Grade 547%

School 47% · District 55% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▲ 9 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 340%

School 40% · District 47% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▲ 9 pts above state median

Grade 459%

School 59% · District 56% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 25 pts above state median

Grade 542%

School 42% · District 54% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▲ 4 pts above state median

Science

Grade 559%

School 59% · District 68% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▲ 20 pts above state median

Social studies

Grades 3-883%

School 83% · district not reported

▼ 1 pts below 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.