Timber Ridge Elementary in East Cobb posts the highest test proficiency of any public elementary school in Cobb County, with about 84% of students scoring proficient or above on Georgia's state assessments, according to an allk12 analysis of state and federal data.
Right behind it are Tritt Elementary at 83% and Mount Bethel Elementary at 83%, and the pattern in those three names is the whole story. All of them, and almost every school in the top half of this list, sit in East Cobb, the stretch northeast of Marietta that has long been one of the more affluent corners of metro Atlanta.
The top 15 elementary schools by test proficiency
Proficiency is the share of students scoring proficient or above on Georgia Milestones assessments, composited across tested grades and subjects. The list covers public elementary schools with at least 350 students; charter schools are excluded so the comparison stays among neighborhood schools. Every school links to its allk12 profile.
| Rank | Elementary school | City | Students | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Timber Ridge Elementary | Marietta | 529 | 84.1% |
| 2 | Tritt Elementary | Marietta | 804 | 83.5% |
| 3 | Mount Bethel Elementary | Marietta | 898 | 83.0% |
| 4 | West Side Elementary | Marietta | 556 | 81.1% |
| 5 | Mountain View Elementary | Marietta | 837 | 79.0% |
| 6 | Murdock Elementary | Marietta | 847 | 78.7% |
| 7 | Sope Creek Elementary | Marietta | 1,104 | 78.4% |
| 8 | East Side Elementary | Marietta | 1,072 | 77.4% |
| 9 | Due West Elementary | Marietta | 626 | 70.9% |
| 10 | Garrison Mill Elementary | Marietta | 649 | 69.1% |
| 11 | Shallowford Falls Elementary | Marietta | 591 | 69.1% |
| 12 | Rocky Mount Elementary | Marietta | 576 | 66.4% |
| 13 | Davis Elementary | Marietta | 635 | 66.4% |
| 14 | Kemp Elementary | Powder Springs | 894 | 65.0% |
| 15 | Pickett's Mill Elementary | Acworth | 753 | 64.3% |
Read the map, not just the ranking
The top eight are packed into East Cobb, while the schools in Powder Springs and Acworth, in the county's west and northwest, sit lower on the list. The reason is due mostly to income more than anything else. Elementary test scores track household wealth about as closely as any school number, so a big part of what separates an 84% school from a 64% one is the economic circumstances of the families already enrolled, not a secret in the building.
A high score in an affluent zone tells you the school is not struggling; it does not prove that school would do more for a particular child than a lower-ranked one with strong teachers. If you are comparing options, pull each school's profile for the year-to-year trend and the student-teacher ratio, and keep the income context in mind. Our explainer on how school ratings actually work covers what these figures capture and miss, and the piece on free and reduced-price lunch explains the income measure underneath them.
One practical wrinkle specific to Cobb: the county holds two districts. Most of it is the Cobb County School District, but the City of Marietta runs its own separate system, so a Marietta address can land in either one. Confirm which district a home belongs to before you assume its assigned school. For families weighing Cobb's high schools, several appear on our ranking of the top rated high schools in Georgia.
Data note: proficiency figures reflect allk12's analysis of Georgia Milestones results and federal (NCES) enrollment for the 2024-25 school year, composited across tested grades and subjects. The list is limited to public schools with at least 350 students. Treat the figures as a tier, not a precise ranking.
Sources
Test proficiency and enrollment figures from allk12's analysis of Georgia Department of Education assessment data and National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) data, 2024-25.
allk12: Cobb County schools
