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Honest take: what's the hardest part about being a student at Murphey Candler Elementary School?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
512
Elementary
DISTRICT 556 · STATE 605
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·DEKALB COUNTY·NCES 130174000709
Murphey Candler Elementary School
6775 S Goddard Rd, Lithonia, GA 30038 · (678) 676-9102 · DeKalb County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY41-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL512 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
13.1:1
39 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.1:1 · STATE 13.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
100%
512 students
DISTRICT 82% · 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 | 40 | 8% |
| Kindergarten | 68 | 13% |
| Grade 1 | 81 | 16% |
| Grade 2 | 89 | 17% |
| Grade 3 | 75 | 15% |
| Grade 4 | 78 | 15% |
| Grade 5 | 81 | 16% |
This year's kindergarten class (68) is 16% smaller than its 5th grade class (81).
Student demographics
14%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 63% · 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
School pathway
Students here typically continue to
Based on published attendance-zone data from DeKalb County. Zones change; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
Georgia Milestones 2024-25 . % Proficient or DistinguishedEnglish Language Arts
15.5%
GA avg 40.1% . -3.1pp since 2021
Math
15.3%
GA avg 44.6% . +1.9pp since 2021
What this means: On the Georgia Milestones, Georgia's statewide test, about 15 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 3 points since 2021, while math scores are up about 2 points.
Georgia Milestones results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 15.5% | 15.3% |
| 2023-24 | 23.3% | 18.0% |
| 2022-23 | 18.8% | 16.5% |
| 2021-22 | 18.6% | 13.4% |
% 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
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
18.8%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
25.7%
based on GA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-6.9pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 19% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 26% typical for Georgia schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Georgia's top nor bottom 10%.
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 Murphey Candler Elementary School
Murphey Candler Elementary School's state test result (18.8% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Murphey Candler Elementary School this school | 512 | 100.0% | 18.8% |
| Randolph Elementary School Atlanta | 497 | 100.0% | 33.8% |
| W.S. Hornsby Elementary School Augusta | 508 | 100.0% | 7.8% |
| DeKalb Preparatory Academy Charter Decatur | 537 | 100.0% | 18.7% |
| Chapel Hill Elementary School Decatur | 495 | 100.0% | 20.1% |
| Gadsden Elementary School Savannah | 493 | 99.0% | 16.6% |
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 Murphey Candler Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Georgia | In DeKalb County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 18.8% | #1,080 of 1,208 | #64 of 88 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 15.3% | #1,145 of 1,215 ▼ 69 | #77 of 88 ▼ 15 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 15.5% | #1,119 of 1,215 ▼ 151 | #72 of 88 ▼ 12 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest drop first | -0.6pp | #379 of 1,183 | #23 of 88 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 512 | #828 of 1,324 | #50 of 97 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 13.1:1 | #574 of 1,301 | #48 of 94 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 14.5% | #1,246 of 1,301 | #87 of 94 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 100% | #171 of 1,312 | #18 of 97 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -10.6% | #504 of 854 | #58 of 73 |
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
512
+7 (+1%) vs 2020
-23% since 1990-91, when it was 667
Student : Teacher
13.1:1
was 12.3:1
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 | 512 | 39 | 13.1:1 | 100% (512) |
| 2023-24 | 496 | 32.8 | 15.1:1 | 100% (496) |
| 2022-23 | 528 | 34.1 | 15.5:1 | 100% (528) |
| 2020-21 | 505 | 41 | 12.3:1 | 99% (500) |
| 2017-18 | 573 | 38 | 15.1:1 | 88% (507) |
| 2015-16 | 540 | 34 | 15.9:1 | 84% (454) |
| 2010-11 | 526 | 33 | 15.9:1 | 84% (442) |
| 2000-01 | 806 | 40 | 20.1:1 | 50% (400) |
| 1990-91 | 667 | 35 | 19.1:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Murphey Candler Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 11% (573 to 512); teachers up 3% (38 to 39).
About Murphey Candler Elementary School
Murphey Candler Elementary School is a small elementary school. Its address is in Lithonia, Georgia. Enrolled students number 512 students, in pre-K through 5.
DeKalb County has 92,088 students spread across 131 schools.
Federal enrollment data show Murphey Candler Elementary School is 92% Black. It is also 4% Hispanic and 3% multiracial. DeKalb County's residents are about 51% Black, 42 points below the school's share. Pick two students at random and there is a 14% chance they belong to different racial or ethnic groups; that figure is the school's diversity index.
Murphey Candler Elementary School's 39 full-time-equivalent teachers put its ratio at 13.1:1. That matches the 13.3:1 average for elementary schools in Georgia fairly closely. Eligibility for subsidized school meals is 100%. Among public schools in DeKalb County, the average eligibility rate is 77%.
Based on student poverty, the model expects 25.7% at Murphey Candler Elementary School; the school's average proficiency rate on state tests is 18.8%.
Census Bureau estimates for DeKalb County show that the median household income is $80,644, about 47% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and roughly 10% of residents are in poverty. Murphey Candler Elementary School is one of 154 public schools in the county.
Nearest public school: Arabia Mountain High School - Academy of Engineering- Medic, about 0.2 miles away. A five-mile radius around the school includes at least 8 other public schools. Murphey Candler Elementary School's average proficiency of 18.8% compares with 21.1% for its nearest scored neighbors.
The school's locale code, Rural: Fringe, means it is in rural territory close to an urban area.
Federal data show 505 students in 2020-21 and 512 in 2024-25, a difference of under 3%.
The Murphey Candler Elementary School community page is open for posts about sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
DeKalb County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
765,351
Census ACS
Median income
$80,644
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
47%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
10%
Below federal line
Schools in county
154
102,960 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in DeKalb County
- Lakeside High SchoolHigh · 2,234 students
- Dunwoody High SchoolHigh · 2,012 students
- Chamblee High SchoolHigh · 1,867 students
- Cross Keys High SchoolHigh · 1,748 students
- Sequoyah Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,713 students
- Tucker High SchoolHigh · 1,614 students
Other schools in Lithonia
- Lithonia High SchoolHigh · 1,547 students
- Martin Luther King- Jr. High SchoolHigh · 1,370 students
- Arabia Mountain High School - Academy of Engineering- MedicHigh · 1,224 students
- Miller Grove High SchoolHigh · 1,073 students
- Lithonia Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,062 students
- Flat Rock Elementary SchoolElementary · 977 students
Nearby schools
- Arabia Mountain High School - Academy of Engineering- Medic0.2 mi · 1,224
- Flat Rock Elementary School1.9 mi · 977
- Salem Middle School3.1 mi · 827
- Leadership Preparatory Academy3.4 mi · 268
- Fairington Elementary School3.8 mi · 461
- Shoal Creek Elementary School3.8 mi · 666
Frequently asked questions
About Murphey Candler Elementary SchoolHow large is Murphey Candler Elementary School?
Murphey Candler Elementary School enrolls approximately 512 students in grades PK-05.
Is Murphey Candler Elementary School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Murphey Candler Elementary School is an elementary school covering grades PK-05.
How many students per teacher at Murphey Candler Elementary School?
Approximately 13.1:1 students per teacher at Murphey Candler Elementary School.
How diverse is Murphey Candler Elementary School?
Murphey Candler Elementary School reports a student body of 1% White, 4% Hispanic, 92% Black, 0% Asian, 3% Two or more.
Who oversees Murphey Candler Elementary School?
Murphey Candler Elementary School is overseen by DeKalb County in DeKalb County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.