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Does Gaines Elementary School have enough mental health and stress support?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
568
Elementary
DISTRICT 442 · STATE 605
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CLARKE COUNTY·NCES 130117000455
Gaines Elementary School
900 Gaines School Rd, Athens, GA 30605 · (706) 357-5333 · Clarke County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY12-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL568 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
11.3:1
50 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 9.7:1 · STATE 13.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
100%
568 students
DISTRICT 93% · STATE 74%
Community
6
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 70 | 12% |
| Kindergarten | 78 | 14% |
| Grade 1 | 80 | 14% |
| Grade 2 | 88 | 15% |
| Grade 3 | 82 | 14% |
| Grade 4 | 80 | 14% |
| Grade 5 | 90 | 16% |
This year's kindergarten class (78) is 13% smaller than its 5th grade class (90).
Student demographics
49%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 68% · STATE 71% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
Georgia Milestones 2024-25 . % Proficient or DistinguishedEnglish Language Arts
7.6%
GA avg 40.1% . -3.9pp since 2021
Math
15.1%
GA avg 44.6% . +6.2pp since 2021
What this means: On the Georgia Milestones, Georgia's statewide test, about 8 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 15 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Georgia schools, those numbers are about 40 and 45. Reading and writing scores are down about 4 points since 2021, while math scores are up about 6 points.
Georgia Milestones results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 7.6% | 15.1% |
| 2023-24 | 12.2% | 15.0% |
| 2022-23 | 8.2% | 11.6% |
| 2021-22 | 11.4% | 8.9% |
% Proficient or Distinguished, all students and all tested grades.
Source: Georgia Milestones. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of GA schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
11.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
25.7%
based on GA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-14.2pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 11% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 26% typical for Georgia schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Gaines Elementary School
Gaines Elementary School's state test result (11.5% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gaines Elementary School this school | 568 | 100.0% | 11.5% |
| Burroughs-Molette Elementary School Brunswick | 546 | 100.0% | 22.5% |
| Macon County Elementary School Oglethorpe | 525 | 100.0% | 18.2% |
| Lee Street Elementary School Jonesboro | 515 | 100.0% | 9.6% |
| C. B. Watson Primary School Warner Robins | 618 | 100.0% | N/A |
| Greene County Primary School Union Point | 582 | 100.0% | 34.7% |
Matched among Georgia elementary schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Gaines Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Georgia | In Clarke County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 11.5% | #1,185 of 1,208 | #12 of 14 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 15.1% | #1,150 of 1,215 ▼ 26 | #13 of 14 ▼ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 7.6% | #1,206 of 1,215 ▼ 29 | #14 of 14 ▼ 2 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +1.2pp | #663 of 1,183 | #11 of 14 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 568 | #685 of 1,324 | #2 of 14 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 11.3:1 | #166 of 1,301 | #14 of 14 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 49.4% | #804 of 1,301 | #11 of 14 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 100% | #70 of 1,312 | #4 of 14 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +10.9% | #181 of 386 | N/A |
Ranked against other public elementary schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
568
+39 (+7%) vs 2020
0% since 1990-91, when it was 569
Student : Teacher
11.3:1
was 9.8:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 568 | 50.1 | 11.3:1 | 100% (568) |
| 2023-24 | 545 | 49.6 | 11.0:1 | 100% (545) |
| 2022-23 | 518 | 50 | 10.4:1 | 83% (429) |
| 2020-21 | 529 | 54 | 9.8:1 | 82% (433) |
| 2017-18 | 512 | 49 | 10.4:1 | 92% (471) |
| 2015-16 | 576 | 47 | 12.3:1 | 92% (531) |
| 2010-11 | 593 | 49 | 12.1:1 | 96% (572) |
| 2000-01 | 524 | 31 | 16.9:1 | 79% (416) |
| 1990-91 | 569 | 40 | 14.2:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Gaines Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students up 11% (512 to 568); teachers up 2% (49 to 50.1).
About Gaines Elementary School
Gaines Elementary School is a medium-sized elementary school with its address in Athens, Georgia. The school's 568 students are in pre-K through 5.
Clarke County (21 schools, 12,275 students) runs Gaines Elementary School.
Gaines Elementary School is 68% Black by enrollment. The rest of enrollment is 19% Hispanic, 6% White, and 5% multiracial. Census estimates put the Black share of Clarke County's population at about 26%. Gaines Elementary School's diversity index is 49%, against a US figure of 70%.
A ratio of 11.3:1 comes from the school's 50.1 full-time-equivalent teachers. The school has fewer students per teacher than the 13.3:1 average for elementary schools in Georgia. The lunch program counts 100% of students at Gaines Elementary School as eligible for free or reduced-price meals. Across public schools in Clarke County, the average is 91%.
The allk12 BeatsExpectations score for Gaines Elementary School is -14.2 points, in the bottom 10% of Georgia. Its average proficiency rate on state tests is 11.5%, and the predicted rate is 25.7%.
Clarke County has about 129,609 residents, and the median household income is $53,625, about 47% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 13%. In all, Clarke County has 22 public schools and roughly 13,750 students.
Nearest public school: Hilsman Middle School, about 0.1 miles away. A five-mile radius around the school includes at least 8 other public schools. Nearby schools average 30.1% on proficiency, and Gaines Elementary School is below that at 11.5%.
Its location is classified as City: Mid-size by the National Center for Education Statistics.
Enrollment at Gaines Elementary School grew 7% between 2020-21 and 2024-25, from 529 to 568 students. There were more students per teacher in 2024-25 (11.3:1) than in 2020-21 (9.8:1).
Topics for discussion here include science fairs, picture day, and bus routes. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
Clarke County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
129,609
Census ACS
Median income
$53,625
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
47%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
13%
Below federal line
Schools in county
22
13,750 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Clarke County
- Clarke Central High SchoolHigh · 1,907 students
- Cedar Shoals High SchoolHigh · 1,489 students
- Clarke Middle SchoolMiddle · 718 students
- Burney-Harris-Lyons Middle SchoolMiddle · 707 students
- Whitehead Road Elementary SchoolElementary · 632 students
- Hilsman Middle SchoolMiddle · 624 students
Other schools in Athens
- Clarke Central High SchoolHigh · 1,907 students
- Cedar Shoals High SchoolHigh · 1,489 students
- Foothills Regional High SchoolHigh · 1,475 students
- Clarke Middle SchoolMiddle · 718 students
- South Jackson Elementary SchoolElementary · 715 students
- Burney-Harris-Lyons Middle SchoolMiddle · 707 students
Other Gaines Elementary schools
One other US public school is named Gaines Elementary. Gaines Elementary School is the largest of the 2.
- Gaines Elementary SchoolGAINES, MI · 93 students
Nearby schools
- Hilsman Middle School0.1 mi · 624
- Cedar Shoals High School0.6 mi · 1,489
- Barnett Shoals Elementary School1.9 mi · 490
- Whit Davis Road Elementary School2.1 mi · 395
- Barrow Elementary School2.8 mi · 456
- Howard B. Stroud Elementary School3.3 mi · 350
Frequently asked questions
About Gaines Elementary SchoolHow large is Gaines Elementary School?
Gaines Elementary School enrolls approximately 568 students in grades PK-05.
Is Gaines Elementary School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Gaines Elementary School is an elementary school covering grades PK-05.
How many teachers does Gaines Elementary School have?
Gaines Elementary School employs 50 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 11.3:1.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Gaines Elementary School?
At Gaines Elementary School, the student body is approximately 6% White, 19% Hispanic, 68% Black, 0% Asian, 5% Two or more.
Is Gaines Elementary School public or private?
Gaines Elementary School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Clarke County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.