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How has Southwest Laurens Elementary changed in the last five years, for better or worse?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
967
Elementary
DISTRICT 738 · STATE 605
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·LAURENS COUNTY·NCES 130189000879
Southwest Laurens Elementary
1799 Ga Highway 117, Rentz, GA 31075 · (478) 984-4276 · Laurens County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY42-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL967 STUDENTS
A
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 85% of Georgia public elementary schools
- B+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- A+Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- C+Three-year trend Change in reading and math proficiency over the last three test years.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Georgia public elementary schools
Student : Teacher
13.8:1
70 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.5:1 · STATE 13.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
99%
954 students
DISTRICT 91% · 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 | 98 | 10% |
| Kindergarten | 135 | 14% |
| Grade 1 | 122 | 13% |
| Grade 2 | 162 | 17% |
| Grade 3 | 144 | 15% |
| Grade 4 | 159 | 16% |
| Grade 5 | 147 | 15% |
This year's kindergarten class (135) is 8% smaller than its 5th grade class (147).
Student demographics
49%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 56% · 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
40.7%
GA avg 40.1% . -1.3pp since 2021
Math
57.5%
GA avg 44.6% . +2.7pp since 2021
What this means: On the Georgia Milestones, Georgia's statewide test, about 41 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 57 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 1 points since 2021, while math scores are up about 3 points.
Georgia Milestones results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 40.7% | 57.5% |
| 2023-24 | 40.0% | 57.3% |
| 2022-23 | 40.3% | 50.0% |
| 2021-22 | 41.9% | 54.8% |
% 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
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of GA schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
50.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
26.4%
based on GA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+24.1pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 51% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 26% typical for Georgia schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations ranks schools against others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school can post high scores and still fall short of its prediction, or post lower scores and still beat it. This school clears its prediction by about 24 points, placing it in Georgia's top 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 Southwest Laurens Elementary
Southwest Laurens Elementary's state test result (50.5% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest Laurens Elementary this school | 967 | 98.7% | 50.5% |
| Leroy Massey Elementary School Summerville | 877 | 94.3% | 20.9% |
| Blackshear Elementary School Blackshear | 820 | 100.0% | 53.1% |
| Lanier County Elementary School Lakeland | 850 | 100.0% | 45.1% |
| Berrien Primary School Nashville | 785 | 100.0% | N/A |
| Upson-Lee Elementary School Thomaston | 932 | 100.0% | 38.9% |
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 Southwest Laurens Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Georgia | In Laurens County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 50.5% | #342 of 1,208 | N/A |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 57.5% | #283 of 1,215 ▲ 11 | N/A |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 40.7% | #456 of 1,215 ▲ 62 | N/A |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +0.7pp | #700 of 1,183 | N/A |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 967 | #101 of 1,324 | #1 of 6 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 13.8:1 | #769 of 1,301 | #2 of 6 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 48.9% | #807 of 1,301 | #4 of 6 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 98.7% | #478 of 1,312 | #5 of 6 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -8.5% | #587 of 854 | 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
967
-11 (-1%) vs 2020
+48% since 1990-91, when it was 654
Student : Teacher
13.8:1
was 15.8:1
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 | 967 | 70.2 | 13.8:1 | 99% (954) |
| 2023-24 | 997 | 68 | 14.7:1 | 72% (716) |
| 2022-23 | 1,005 | 63 | 15.9:1 | 85% (852) |
| 2020-21 | 978 | 62 | 15.8:1 | 85% (829) |
| 2017-18 | 1,057 | 63.3 | 16.7:1 | 85% (899) |
| 2015-16 | 1,091 | 64 | 17.1:1 | 71% (772) |
| 2010-11 | 1,113 | 69 | 16.1:1 | 63% (701) |
| 2000-01 | 913 | 53 | 17.2:1 | 67% (612) |
| 1990-91 | 654 | 41 | 15.9:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Southwest Laurens Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 9% (1,057 to 967); teachers up 11% (63.3 to 70.2).
About Southwest Laurens Elementary
Among the schools in Rentz, Georgia, is Southwest Laurens Elementary, a large elementary school. Its grade span covers pre-K through 5, with 967 students on the rolls. That compares with an average of about 605 students for elementary schools in Georgia.
Southwest Laurens Elementary reports to Laurens County, which has 8 schools and 6,308 students.
Federal enrollment data show Southwest Laurens Elementary is 68% White. Other groups make up 20% Black, 8% Hispanic, and 4% multiracial. Laurens County as a whole is about 57% White, so the school's share is higher. On a 0 to 100 scale, the school's diversity index is 49, compared with 70 nationally.
There are 70.2 full-time-equivalent teachers at Southwest Laurens Elementary, giving a ratio of 13.8:1. It is about the same as the 13.3:1 average for elementary schools in Georgia. By family income, 99% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.
Southwest Laurens Elementary holds an A allk12 Grade, placing it above 85% of Georgia public elementary schools.
Schools in Georgia with a similar free or reduced-price lunch share are predicted to post an average proficiency rate across its state test results near 26.4%. Southwest Laurens Elementary posts 50.5%, 24.1 points above that, which places it in the top 10% statewide on BeatsExpectations.
The county, Laurens County, is where the school is located. The median household earns about $55,010 a year, 19% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 19% of people live in poverty. Laurens County has 14 public schools with about 8,693 students, including Southwest Laurens Elementary.
Southwest Laurens Elementary is about 4.0 miles from West Laurens High School, its nearest public school. Within ten miles are 6 other public schools. Its average proficiency rate of 50.5% is above the 40.0% average for nearby schools.
Federal data place Southwest Laurens Elementary in the Rural: Distant locale, which means it is in rural territory some distance from an urban area.
Southwest Laurens Elementary had 978 students in 2020-21 and 967 in 2024-25, nearly the same. Over the same period, the student-to-teacher ratio dropped to 13.8:1, from 15.8:1.
People who know Southwest Laurens Elementary can post here about special education services, counseling, and support programs. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to post.
Laurens County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
49,798
Census ACS
Median income
$55,010
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
19%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
19%
Below federal line
Schools in county
14
8,693 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Laurens County
- West Laurens High SchoolHigh · 1,262 students
- West Laurens Middle SchoolMiddle · 898 students
- Northwest Laurens ElementaryElementary · 889 students
- East Laurens High SchoolHigh · 662 students
- East Laurens Primary SchoolElementary · 627 students
- East Laurens Middle SchoolMiddle · 536 students
Nearby schools
- West Laurens High School4.0 mi · 1,262
- Cadwell RYDC6.2 mi · 15
- West Laurens Middle School6.6 mi · 898
- Susie Dasher9.4 mi · 554
- Moore Street Facility9.7 mi · 40
- Dublin High School10.0 mi · 596
Frequently asked questions
About Southwest Laurens ElementaryHow large is Southwest Laurens Elementary?
Southwest Laurens Elementary enrolls approximately 967 students in grades PK-05.
Is Southwest Laurens Elementary an elementary, middle, or high school?
Southwest Laurens Elementary is an elementary school covering grades PK-05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Southwest Laurens Elementary?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Southwest Laurens Elementary is approximately 13.8:1 (70 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Southwest Laurens Elementary?
At Southwest Laurens Elementary, the student body is approximately 68% White, 8% Hispanic, 20% Black, 4% Two or more.
What district is Southwest Laurens Elementary in?
Southwest Laurens Elementary is part of Laurens County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.