Gaines Elementary School

Located at 900 Gaines School Rd, in Athens, Georgia, Gaines Elementary School is a medium-sized elementary school that works with 568 students (grades pre-K through 5), operated by Clarke County.

Within Clarke County, which oversees 21 schools and 12,275 students, Gaines Elementary School is one campus in the system.

On the student-mix side, Gaines Elementary School logs that 68% of the student body identifies as Black. The remainder looks like 19% Hispanic, 6% White, 5% multiracial. The wider county runs roughly 26% Black, putting the school's mix noticeably more Black than the area baseline.

On the income-and-resources front, The school lists 50 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 11.3:1. The state averages around 13.3:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. Around 100% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. By comparison, Clarke County runs at roughly 91%, so the school's eligibility rate is meaningfully above the surrounding baseline.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, Gaines Elementary School falls in the UNDERPERFORMING tier of the BeatsExpectations residual. Given its student profile, a typical campus would land near 25.7%; this one comes in at 11.5%, -14.2 points off the demographic line.

In the surrounding community, the surrounding county (Clarke County) reports that median household income runs about $53,625, roughly 47% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 13% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Clarke County runs 22 public schools (combined enrollment of about 13,750 students), of which Gaines Elementary School is one.

Nearest neighbor: Hilsman Middle School, around 0.1 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Gaines Elementary School. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Gaines Elementary School at 8th of 9; the average score across the group is 30.1%.

The school occupies an urban site.

Looking at the recent track record. Over the past 7-year window, the student count increased 11%: 512 students in 2018 compared to 568 in 2025. Black enrollment moved from 76% to 68% across the same window.

On the community side, recent activity here tends to focus on enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. Members of the school community can share what they know.