Hilsman Middle School

Hilsman Middle School is a middle-grades school of compact scale in Athens, Georgia, run under Clarke County, educateing 624 students in grades 6 through 8.

Across the 21 schools in Clarke County (12,275 students total), Hilsman Middle School accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

On the student-mix side, Hilsman Middle School reports that the largest single group is Black, at 57% of enrollment. Other groups include 19% White, 18% Hispanic, 6% multiracial. By comparison, Clarke County as a whole is about 26% Black, so the school skews visibly more Black than its surroundings.

Looking at school resources, The school employs 57 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 11.0:1. The state averages around 14.1:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. Roughly 100% of students at Hilsman Middle School qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. By comparison, Clarke County runs at roughly 91%, so the school's eligibility rate is higher than the surrounding baseline.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, Hilsman Middle School performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 25.7%, the actual is 25.1%, a residual of -0.5 points.

Across the wider county, community-level numbers for Clarke County indicate the typical household earns roughly $53,625 per year, roughly 47% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 13% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Across Clarke County's 22 public schools (combined enrollment of about 13,750 students), Hilsman Middle School is one campus in the mix.

Nearest neighbor: Gaines Elementary School, around 0.1 miles off. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Among the 9 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Hilsman Middle School ranks 6th on composite proficiency, behind the local average of 28.4%.

Hilsman Middle School operates from a downtown location.

Looking at the recent track record. Over the past 7-year window, the student count contracted 10%: 694 students in 2018 compared to 624 in 2025. Over the same period, the Hispanic share expanded from 13% to 18%. The student-to-teacher ratio tightened from 12.2:1 in 2018 to 11.0:1 today.

On allk12, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around school events, parent volunteer needs, and clubs. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to weigh in.