Turner Elementary School

Turner Elementary School is one of the intimate elementary-level communitys in Albany, Georgia, overseen by Dougherty County, with 412 students on its rolls from grades pre-K through 5. That puts it 32% smaller than the typical public school in Georgia, which averages around 605 students.

Turner Elementary School is one of 22 schools operated by Dougherty County, a district that instructs 13,241 students overall.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Turner Elementary School lists that 87% of students identify as Black, making the school strongly Black-majority. Beyond that, the school logs 7% Hispanic, 3% White, 3% multiracial. That is noticeably more Black than the county at large, where the share is closer to 71%.

Looking at the economic backdrop, The school lists 35 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 11.6:1. The state averages around 13.3:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. Roughly 100% of students at Turner Elementary School qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Turner Elementary 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 19.8%, a residual of -5.9 points.

In the broader community, ACS estimates for Dougherty County put the typical household earns roughly $49,044 per year, about 23% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 19%. In all, Dougherty County runs 22 public schools (combined enrollment of about 13,241 students), of which Turner Elementary School is one.

The closest other public school is South Georgia Regional Achievement Center- The Phoenix, roughly 0.6 miles away. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Turner Elementary School at 6th of 9; the average score across the group is 24.6%.

The school occupies a city-core site.

Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count fell 15%: 486 students in 2018 compared to 412 in 2025. Black enrollment moved from 92% to 87% across the same window. The student-to-teacher ratio narrowed from 13.7:1 in 2018 to 11.6:1 today.

In the discussion threads here, members of the Turner Elementary School community share and discuss classroom updates, athletics, and weather closures. Members of the school community can share what they know.