Tunnel Hill Elementary School, Tunnel Hill GA

Original Research by School Decision on Tunnel Hill Elementary School

Tunnel Hill Elementary is a small public school serving kindergarten through fifth grade in a rural residential community at the edge of northwest Georgia's Dalton Metropolitan Statistical Area. The enrollment is modest, spread across six grades with fairly even class sizes. About two-thirds of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and the student body is predominantly white with a smaller Hispanic population and a handful of Black students; data on English learner enrollment was not available.

Academic results show mixed performance across tested grades. In mathematics, proficiency rises from roughly half of third graders to about seven in ten fourth graders, then drops back to about half in fifth grade. In English language arts, third graders show the lowest results of any grade assessed at the school, with less than a third meeting proficiency, while fourth and fifth grade performance improves to just above or below six in ten proficient. Fifth grade science proficiency is in the upper half. Looking across the school's three main tested subjects, the overall proficiency index positions the school in the top quartile relative to other districts in Whitfield County, though it bears noting that the county comparison set contains only two districts, and the school's proficiency sits well above its county peers. The data reflects one year of results; longer trends were not available.

The school sits within Whitfield County Schools, a district that has made visible capital investments in recent years. A five-year education sales tax approved in 2022 funded renovations at eight elementary schools including safety and energy upgrades across the system. The district also built two new middle schools with modern secure-entry systems, replacing aging facilities. On the property tax side, the district held its millage rate steady for over a decade before raising it modestly in 2023 and again in 2024; parents should expect their school-related property tax bills have risen in the last two years.

Tunnel Hill itself is a car-dependent community built around highway corridors rather than a walkable downtown, with the school's location on School Street within the city but civic and commercial gravity distributed across nearby Dalton and Ringgold. The town is slowly growing, with new residential subdivisions advertised and strong local home sales velocity. The local economy is oriented toward manufacturing and service sectors, with many residents commuting to larger Chattanooga-area employers. Home values in the area are moderate relative to the state and national benchmarks, and current mortgage rates sit around six and a half percent. Families living in or near Tunnel Hill tend to own homes in a rural, tree-lined setting within a historic community tied to Civil War heritage and a preserved railroad tunnel.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 355%

School 55% · District 43% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▲ 15 pts above state median · ▲ 15 pts above county median

Grade 469%

School 69% · District 51% · ▲ 18 pts above district

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 20 pts above county median

Grade 549%

School 49% · District 38% · ▲ 11 pts above district

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 331%

School 31% · District 34% · ▼ 3 pts below district

even with state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 458%

School 58% · District 36% · ▲ 21 pts above district

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 22 pts above county median

Grade 557%

School 57% · District 38% · ▲ 19 pts above district

▲ 18 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

Science

Grade 558%

School 58% · District 34% · ▲ 23 pts above district

▲ 18 pts above state median · ▲ 25 pts above county median

Social studies

Grades 3-890%

School 90% · district not reported

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

This schoolWhitfield 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 3Lower-income53%Higher-income50%3 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income46%Higher-income71%26 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income57%Higher-income63%5 pp gap

Grades 3-8Lower-income53%Higher-income60%8 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income74%Higher-income78%4 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income63%Higher-income79%16 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income43%Higher-income38%5 pp gap

Grades 3-8Lower-income58%Higher-income65%7 pp gap