Rossville Elementary School, Rossville GA

Original Research by School Decision on Rossville Elementary School

Rossville Elementary School is a small public elementary school serving pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in Rossville, a commuter city that sits in a valley between Missionary Ridge and Lookout Mountain in Walker County, Georgia, just across the Tennessee state line from Chattanooga. The school serves a student body that is predominantly white, with a substantial share of Black, Hispanic, and multiracial students, and a large majority of families qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The enrollment is modest for an elementary school.

State testing data from the most recent school year shows proficiency rates that are low across tested subjects. In third-grade math and English language arts, proficiency sits in the low double digits. Fourth-grade math proficiency is lower still, while fifth-grade math, English language arts, and science all cluster in a similar low range. When averaged across all tested grades and subjects, the school's proficiency rate is at the bottom quartile relative to the other districts in Walker County, a peer group of two. The only prior data point available is from a decade ago, when social studies proficiency was substantially higher, though that assessment is no longer administered and direct comparison to today's tests is unreliable. A parent may want to look into further detail with the school about what instructional supports and interventions are in place, particularly given the transition to Science of Reading and Structured Literacy that all Georgia districts have undertaken.

The immediate community context matters for understanding the school's landscape. Rossville is a historic textile mill town working to revitalize itself. The city is actively pursuing downtown redevelopment through tax credits and adaptive reuse projects, most visibly the Peerless Mill conversion into apartments, restaurants, and offices, though approvals have faced delays. New affordable housing is emerging alongside scattered residential subdivisions. The median home price in the area is modest relative to the state and national benchmarks, and monthly rent is moderate as well. Housing affordability remains favorable by national comparison. The city is car-dependent with limited public transit, reflecting its suburban character as a commuter base for Chattanooga employment hubs.

Within the district itself, recent developments affect the school's operating environment. In March 2025 voters approved renewal of the ESPLOST, a one-cent sales tax that will fund capital projects including buildings, HVAC systems, roofs, buses, and security improvements over the coming years without raising property taxes. At the same time, the school board raised property tax revenue significantly in the 2023 budget, with school taxes on a home of average assessed value increasing by a modest but tangible amount. The district has also adopted the Science of Reading and Structured Literacy approach in early grades and rolled out new K-12 English language arts standards, with new Georgia Milestones assessments aligned to those standards beginning in 2025-26. These are structural changes affecting how the school teaches reading and prepares students for state assessment.

Rossville Elementary is embedded in a small rural-to-suburban district and a community undergoing deliberate if gradual revitalization. For a family considering this school, the key question is whether the current proficiency levels and available support systems align with their child's needs and the family's investment in the school's trajectory over time.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 324%

School 24% · District 32% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Grade 412%

School 12% · District 41% · ▼ 29 pts below district

▼ 33 pts below state median · ▼ 32 pts below county median

Grade 519%

School 19% · District 34% · ▼ 15 pts below district

▼ 19 pts below state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 312%

School 12% · District 29% · ▼ 17 pts below district

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

Grade 421%

School 21% · District 34% · ▼ 13 pts below district

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Grade 520%

School 20% · District 38% · ▼ 18 pts below district

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▼ 26 pts below county median

Science

Grade 519%

School 19% · District 41% · ▼ 22 pts below district

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 21 pts below county median

Social studies

Grades 3-873%

School 73% · district not reported

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

This schoolWalker 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.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 5Lower-income12%Higher-income54%42 pp gap

Grades 3-8Lower-income16%Higher-income54%38 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income18%Higher-income39%20 pp gap

Grades 3-8Lower-income22%Higher-income46%24 pp gap