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Honest take: what's the hardest part about being a student at The Dalton Academy?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
469
High
DISTRICT 1,194 · STATE 1,120
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·DALTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS·NCES 130162004422
The Dalton Academy
1250 Cross Plains Trai1, Dalton, GA 30721 · (706) 876-4700 · Whitfield County
GRADES 09–12HIGH13-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL469 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
9.3:1
51 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.1:1 · STATE 15.2:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
58%
274 students
DISTRICT 71% · STATE 74%
Community
6
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other high schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 9 | 116 | 25% |
| Grade 10 | 84 | 18% |
| Grade 11 | 125 | 27% |
| Grade 12 | 144 | 31% |
Student demographics
31%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 43% · 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 DistinguishedMath
25.3%
GA avg 44.6% . +20.0pp since 2021
What this means: On the Georgia Milestones, Georgia's statewide test, about 25 of every 100 students at this school do math at grade level. The Georgia average is about 45 of 100. Math scores are up about 20 points since 2021.
Georgia Milestones results by year
| School year | Math |
|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 25.3% |
| 2023-24 | 17.7% |
| 2022-23 | 0.0% |
| 2021-22 | 5.3% |
% 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
20.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
47.1%
based on GA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-26.6pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 21% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 47% 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 The Dalton Academy
The Dalton Academy's state test result (20.6% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Dalton Academy this school | 469 | 58.4% | 20.6% |
| Johnson High School Gainesville | 1,318 | 70.7% | 27.1% |
| Dalton High School Dalton | 1,919 | 62.5% | 26.0% |
| Horizon Academy School Gainesville | 464 | 84.1% | N/A |
| East Hall High School Gainesville | 1,287 | 72.0% | 21.9% |
| West Hall High School Oakwood | 1,274 | 66.4% | 8.8% |
Matched among Georgia high 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 The Dalton Academy ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Georgia | In Whitfield County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 20.6% | #340 of 411 | #5 of 6 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 25.3% | #304 of 417 ▲ 34 | #5 of 6 ▼ 1 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 469 | #361 of 480 | #5 of 7 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 9.3:1 | #9 of 413 | N/A |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 30.8% | #347 of 413 | N/A |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 58.4% | #273 of 425 | #6 of 6 |
Ranked against other public high 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.
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 469 | 50.6 | 9.3:1 | 58% (274) |
| 2023-24 | 431 | 43.3 | 9.9:1 | 73% (315) |
| 2022-23 | 402 | 34.7 | 11.6:1 | 67% (268) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for The Dalton Academy.
About The Dalton Academy
As a small high school, The Dalton Academy serves students in Dalton, Georgia. The school counted 469 students in 2024-25, covering grades 9 through 12. That is 58% below the average of about 1,120 students for high schools in Georgia.
Dalton Public Schools counts 10 schools and 7,619 students, including The Dalton Academy.
By race and ethnicity, The Dalton Academy is 83% Hispanic. Other groups include 9% White, 3% Black, and 3% multiracial. The county population is about 37% Hispanic. On a 0 to 100 scale, the school's diversity index is 31, compared with 70 nationally.
The school had 50.6 full-time-equivalent teachers in 2024-25. Its student-to-teacher ratio is 9.3:1. The gap from the 15.2:1 average for high schools in Georgia is 5.9 students per teacher. The school reported 58% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch in 2024-25. That is 25 points below the 83% average for public schools in Whitfield County.
BeatsExpectations places The Dalton Academy in the bottom 10% of Georgia schools. The measure fits a line through proficiency and free or reduced-price lunch share for each state, and this school sits 26.6 points below it (20.6% actual, 47.1% predicted).
Whitfield County is the school's county. There, median household income comes to about $67,070, 20% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 11% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Whitfield County's 33 public schools enroll about 19,570 students and include The Dalton Academy.
Dalton Jr. High School is the nearest public school to The Dalton Academy, less than a tenth of a mile away. Counting only straight-line distance, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. Of 8 schools in the immediate area with test results, The Dalton Academy ranks 7th on average proficiency.
The Dalton Academy is coded as City: Small in federal locale data.
This page is set up for the Dalton Academy community to discuss open houses, carpools, and field trips. Members of the school community can share what they know.
Whitfield County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
103,598
Census ACS
Median income
$67,070
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
20%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
11%
Below federal line
Schools in county
33
19,570 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Dalton Public Schools
- Dalton High SchoolHigh · 1,919 students
- Hammond Creek Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,057 students
- City Park Elementary SchoolElementary · 707 students
- Brookwood Elementary SchoolElementary · 688 students
- Blue Ridge Elementary SchoolElementary · 632 students
- Westwood Elementary SchoolElementary · 605 students
Other schools in Dalton
- Dalton High SchoolHigh · 1,919 students
- Southeast Whitfield County High SchoolHigh · 1,453 students
- Hammond Creek Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,057 students
- Coahulla Creek High SchoolHigh · 1,041 students
- North Whitfield Middle SchoolMiddle · 731 students
- City Park Elementary SchoolElementary · 707 students
Nearby schools
- Dalton Jr. High School0.0 mi · 517
- Elbert Shaw Regional Youth Detention Center0.6 mi · 9
- Hammond Creek Middle School0.6 mi · 1,057
- Park Creek Elementary School0.6 mi · 604
- Phoenix High School1.1 mi · 141
- Roan Elementary School1.3 mi · 421
Frequently asked questions
About The Dalton AcademyWhat is the total enrollment at The Dalton Academy?
The Dalton Academy enrolls approximately 469 students in grades 09-12.
What grades does The Dalton Academy serve?
The Dalton Academy serves grades 09-12.
What is the student-teacher ratio at The Dalton Academy?
The student-to-teacher ratio at The Dalton Academy is approximately 9.3:1 (51 FTE teachers).
What is the student diversity at The Dalton Academy?
Student demographics at The Dalton Academy are roughly 9% White, 83% Hispanic, 3% Black, 1% Asian, 3% Two or more.
Who oversees The Dalton Academy?
The Dalton Academy is overseen by Dalton Public Schools in Whitfield County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.