W.g. Nunn Elementary, Valdosta GA

Original Research by School Decision on W.g. Nunn Elementary

W.G. Nunn Elementary serves pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in Valdosta, a mixed-use regional hub in south Georgia. The school enrolls a student population that is almost entirely eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, with the vast majority identifying as Black. The school sits in a city experiencing active growth and redevelopment, including new housing construction, downtown mixed-use projects, and industrial expansion, though the area faced recent hurricane damage.

The most immediate signal for a parent considering this school is its academic performance. State testing data from the most recent year show proficiency rates that are very low across mathematics, English language arts, and science. In third grade math, only a small fraction of students met proficiency. Fourth and fifth grade math proficiency rates are also quite low, as are rates in English language arts across those grades. Science proficiency in fifth grade is similarly below threshold. These results place the school well below the midpoint of proficiency among districts in Lowndes County.

The data available does not include trend information showing whether these results represent a change from prior years or a steady state; Georgia's current assessment system appears to be recent enough that year-to-year comparisons are not yet available. A parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand whether current efforts are focused on recovery and improvement. The school's enrollment is substantial for an elementary building, and it is a regular public school with no charter, magnet, or special designation. One data gap: neither English learner nor special education enrollment rates were available for this school, so a parent whose child has either of those needs would want to ask the school directly about those services and staffing.

Valdosta City Schools recently discontinued its Valdosta Early College Academy, ending an accelerated pathway that had let students earn high school credits early. Advanced and accelerated learning including STEM, honors, AP, dual enrollment, and the International Baccalaureate Programme are now being consolidated into students' home campuses, so families seeking acceleration should ask W.G. Nunn and their eventual secondary schools how those options are being implemented at individual buildings rather than at a separate center.

The community itself is in transition. Housing in the area is moderately priced relative to household income, and new multifamily and single-family residential projects are underway. The city has a new City-County governmental complex, a downtown revival with new mixed-use development announced, and a pipeline of industrial projects including a Walmart dairy facility that opened in December, an Amazon delivery station, and food processing operations. Schools and major institutions sit on separate campuses outside downtown, so W.G. Nunn's location on Lakeland Avenue is not within the historic downtown core but rather in the dispersed residential and institutional landscape surrounding it. A recent five-year sales tax approved by county voters in March 2023 is funding capital projects for Valdosta City Schools, including replacement and construction of elementary and middle schools, which may mean building improvements or replacement are in the pipeline.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 39%

School 9% · District 23% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 31 pts below state median · ▼ 37 pts below county median

Grade 425%

School 25% · District 26% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 34 pts below county median

Grade 522%

School 22% · District 23% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 25 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 38%

School 8% · District 16% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 23 pts below state median · ▼ 28 pts below county median

Grade 419%

School 19% · District 18% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 24 pts below county median

Grade 520%

School 20% · District 26% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▼ 25 pts below county median

Science

Grade 515%

School 15% · District 27% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 36 pts below county median

Social studies

Grades 3-885%

School 85% · district not reported

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

This schoolValdosta City, 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.