Jesup Elementary School, Jesup GA

Original Research by School Decision on Jesup Elementary School

Jesup Elementary serves students in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in a small county seat where forest-products manufacturing and a federal prison anchor the economy. The school sits in an old railroad town with a walkable downtown core and tree-named residential streets, though freight and passenger trains run through the center at high frequency, giving the place a working-class, mixed commercial-residential texture.

The enrollment is roughly small to mid-sized for an elementary school, with a very substantial share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The student body is racially mixed, with a slightly larger White enrollment than other groups, followed by a notable Black enrollment, and smaller shares of Hispanic and multiracial students. Data on students with individualized education plans and English learners was not available.

Academic performance, based on state testing in early 2025, sits below proficiency for most students. In math, proficiency rates declined across the grade band tested, from lower-middle range in third grade to substantially lower in fifth. English language arts proficiency is similarly low across grades, ranging from under one-third in third and fourth grade to about one-third in fifth. Science proficiency in fifth grade was modestly higher. These results reflect genuine struggles in core academics that a parent would want to understand in detail when considering the school. State testing data from prior years was not available, so trends over time cannot be assessed. The school serves only the tested elementary grades, so no high school graduation outcomes apply.

The district has invested in school facilities through a locally approved sales tax measure, funding upgrades including construction at the high school and a new track. That investment signals a broader district commitment to infrastructure, though no information about curriculum approaches, special programs, or staffing levels at Jesup Elementary itself was available.

Housing in the Jesup area is affordable relative to both state and national benchmarks, with home values modestly below the state median and modest year-over-year appreciation. Mortgage feasibility at prevailing rates sits comfortably within range for families with median household incomes in the region.

The school is a regular public elementary school operated by Wayne County. No magnet or charter status applies. The county operates a single school district, so comparison to neighboring districts in the county is not possible, as only this one district serves the county.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 340%

School 40% · District 43% · ▼ 4 pts below district

even with state median

Grade 437%

School 37% · District 48% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 8 pts below state median

Grade 531%

School 31% · District 33% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 7 pts below state median

English language arts

Grade 327%

School 27% · District 31% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▼ 3 pts below state median

Grade 430%

School 30% · District 36% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 4 pts below state median

Grade 533%

School 33% · District 31% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▼ 5 pts below state median

Science

Grade 540%

School 40% · District 40%

▲ 1 pts above state median

Social studies

Grades 3-870%

School 70% · district not reported

▼ 14 pts below state median

This schoolWayne 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.