Big Shanty Elementary School

Big Shanty Elementary School is one of the cozy K-5 schools in Kennesaw, Georgia, part of Cobb County, with 511 students on its rolls from grades 3 through 5.

Big Shanty Elementary School is one of 110 schools operated by Cobb County, a district that enrolls 105,738 students overall.

Looking at the student body, Big Shanty Elementary School lists that the most-represented group is White (34%), with the rest of the student body spread across multiple groups. Beyond that, the school records 31% Black, 25% Hispanic, 7% multiracial, 3% Asian. By comparison, Cobb County as a whole is about 49% White, so the school skews considerably less White than its surroundings.

Looking at the economic backdrop, The school currently runs with 45 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 11.3:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 13.3:1, putting Big Shanty Elementary School tighter than the state norm the norm. An estimated 51% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Big Shanty Elementary School sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 51.0%; this one delivers 47.8%.

In the broader community, census data for Cobb County shows median household earnings sit near $102,738, 51% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 6%. Across Cobb County's 129 public schools (combined enrollment of about 116,609 students), Big Shanty Elementary School is one campus in the mix.

The closest other public school is Kennesaw Elementary School, roughly 1.9 miles away. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Big Shanty Elementary School. On composite proficiency, Big Shanty Elementary School comes 2nd of 7 in the immediate cluster, higher than the nearby-schools average of 42.1%.

The school occupies a suburban site.

Five-year trend. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Big Shanty Elementary School has ticked down 17%, going from 612 students in 2018 to 511 in 2025. White enrollment moved from 41% to 34% across the same window. The student-to-teacher ratio tightened from 13.0:1 in 2018 to 11.3:1 today.

In the discussion threads here, recent activity here tends to focus on open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.