Summary:
Panola Way Elementary School is a public elementary school located in Lithonia, Georgia, serving grades PK-5 with a total enrollment of 653 students. The school is part of the DeKalb County School District, which is ranked 138 out of 203 districts in Georgia and has a 2-star rating from SchoolDigger.
Panola Way Elementary School consistently performs significantly below the DeKalb County and Georgia state averages in standardized test scores across all grade levels and subject areas. For example, in the 2023-2024 school year, only 12.6% of 3rd graders, 12% of 4th graders, and 19.5% of 5th graders were proficient or better in English Language Arts, compared to 31.6%, 30.5%, and 40.8% for DeKalb County, respectively. The school's performance in mathematics is even more concerning, with only 8.4% of 3rd graders, 10% of 4th graders, and 12.5% of 5th graders scoring proficient or better, compared to 32.1%, 34.3%, and 30.5% for the county. Panola Way Elementary School has consistently ranked in the bottom 10% of Georgia elementary schools, with a ranking of 1211 out of 1248 schools in the 2023-2024 school year, and has received a 0-star rating from SchoolDigger for the majority of the years analyzed, indicating it is one of the lowest-performing schools in the state.
When comparing Panola Way Elementary School to other nearby schools in the DeKalb County district, it becomes clear that the school is an outlier in terms of academic performance. For example, Shadow Rock Elementary School, located just 2.78 miles away, outperforms Panola Way in both English Language Arts and Mathematics by a significant margin. Similarly, Leadership Preparatory Academy, a public charter school 2.8 miles away, demonstrates much stronger academic results across all grade levels and subject areas. The high percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch at Panola Way Elementary School, 100% in the 2022-2023 school year, suggests that the school may be serving a population with significant socioeconomic challenges, which could be a contributing factor to the school's persistent low performance.
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Detail:
Public PK, KG-5
District:
DeKalb County
SchoolDigger Rank:
1211th of 1,248 Georgia Elementary Schools
Students who attend Panola Way Elementary School usually attend:
Student/teacher ratio: 17.3
Number of students: 653
Racial breakdown:
African American:
89.3%
Hispanic:
6.7%
Two or more races:
2.9%
more
American Indian:
0.6%
White:
0.2%
Asian:
0.2%
Pacific Islander:
0.2%
Free/discounted lunch recipients: 100%
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