The top reported proficiency rate is 83% in Social studies. The lowest is 29% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Upson-lee Elementary School
Upson-Lee Elementary is a public school serving grades three through five in Thomaston, Georgia, with an enrollment of roughly a mid-sized school for its grade band. The school serves a student body that is substantially racially mixed, with a slight majority of white students and a substantial share of Black students, along with smaller shares of Hispanic, multiracial, and Asian students. A very substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing this school in a high-poverty context.
On state assessments administered in spring 2025, Upson-Lee's proficiency rates tell a straightforward story: math performance is below typical, ELA performance is markedly weaker than math, and fifth-grade science performance sits in the mid-range. In math across all grades, fewer than half of students met proficiency. In ELA, proficiency rates are considerably lower, falling below one-third across all grades tested. Third-grade ELA proficiency, at roughly a quarter of students, stands as the school's most challenged area. Fifth-grade science showed stronger results but still with fewer than half proficient. The school has only one year of current assessment data, so longer-term trend information is not available.
The school is located in Thomaston, a small former mill town that has seen significant economic transition. After major employers closed in the early 2000s, the city has begun a recovery centered on downtown revitalization and modest new housing development. Thomaston serves as a county seat and regional hub for healthcare, retail, and education, with a courthouse-square downtown and surrounding mill-village neighborhoods. The area is working through an active slate of housing and economic development projects, including several named infill developments and a planned design charrette for early 2026 focused on attainable housing in the East Thomaston mill-village area.
The broader Thomaston-Upson County School District has recently completed a substantial capital investment program. Voters approved an ESPLOST renewal and bond funding in March 2023, with the capstone project, the Upson-Lee Athletic Complex, breaking ground in spring 2025. This means that families currently moving to the area will see substantially upgraded school sports and learning facilities coming into service. That same investment landscape carries a property-tax consideration: in early 2025 the district voted to opt out of a statewide homestead exemption that would have capped assessment increases, meaning homeowners in Upson County will not receive that state cap on the school portion of their property tax bill. The district has one of the state's lower millage rates and rolled back its rate the prior year, but this opt-out decision is one families should factor into home-purchase planning.
Upson-Lee serves the elementary portion of a small district consisting of two elementary schools, a middle school, and a high school. As a school with low state-test proficiency rates in both ELA and math, it would benefit families to understand whether the school has targeted improvement initiatives in place, what instructional supports are available, and how the school's approach to literacy and numeracy aligns with their own priorities. A parent may want to look into these details directly with the school.
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