The top reported proficiency rate is 81% in Social studies. The lowest is 28% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Cherokee Elementary School
Cherokee Elementary School serves pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in Cedartown, a small county-seat city in Polk County about seventy miles northwest of Atlanta. The school enrolls roughly six hundred students, a substantial share of whom qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The student body is racially and ethnically mixed, with nearly equal shares of white and Hispanic students, and smaller populations of students who identify as Asian, Black, or multiracial.
State testing data from the most recent school year shows uneven performance across subjects. In English language arts, results are weak. Third-grade proficiency stands well below half, fourth-grade proficiency reaches only about a quarter of students, though fifth-grade reading improves to above four in ten. Math results are similarly modest: third-grade math proficiency falls short of a third of students, fourth grade reaches somewhat past four in ten, and fifth grade hovers around four in ten. Science proficiency in fifth grade tells a different story, with more than half of students demonstrating proficiency. Earlier social studies data from over a decade ago showed strong performance, but that assessment is no longer administered in the grade bands tested here.
The performance pattern suggests that Cherokee struggles most with literacy in the elementary years, particularly in grade three where both reading and math proficiency are lowest. Science, by contrast, shows relative strength. A parent considering this school may want to look further into the reading instruction approach and whether the school has initiatives underway to boost early literacy outcomes, since the trajectory from third to fifth grade shows improvement, indicating gains are possible.
The school sits within Polk County, which operates as a single district across the county. Cedartown itself is experiencing a notable revitalization, with new housing development underway, a restored downtown commercial core centered on a historic Main Street, and incoming employment anchored by a major solar panel recycling operation expected to bring jobs in the coming years. The Silver Comet Trail, a paved regional rail-trail, runs through town and draws community activity. Housing in the zip code is affordable relative to state and national benchmarks. The broader county context is one of growth tied to proximity to Atlanta, though the district recently faced a significant funding shift: in November 2025, voters approved a senior homestead exemption from school property taxes that is expected to reduce the district's annual revenue substantially, a loss that may eventually affect the resources available to schools and families with school-age children over time.
Cherokee Elementary is a regular public school with no special designation. Staffing data, detailed special education enrollment, English learner enrollment counts, chronic absenteeism rates, and discipline records were not available in the data provided. The school's grade span means it does not have a graduation rate.
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