Schools in Athens

The Clarke County School District (CCSD) serves Athens-Clarke County as a single, consolidated district -- consistent with the unified city-county government structure. GreatSchools cites a district-wide average rating of 6.1/10 across 21 rated schools, with real, documented year-over-year CCRPI gains at multiple individual campuses, alongside a real range from the district's highest-rated school (Cleveland Road Elementary, 8.6/10) down to lower-performing campuses.

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CCRPI Gains: Real, Documented Improvement at the Campus Level

Georgia's College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI) data for the 2023-24 school year showed 13 of CCSD's 21 rated schools posting an increase in overall CCRPI score compared to 2022-23 -- including 10 of 14 elementary schools plus Clarke Middle, Burney-Harris-Lyons Middle, and Clarke Central High School. Individual gains were substantial at several campuses: Barnett Shoals Elementary rose 16.5 points to 80.3, Clarke Middle rose 19 points to 80.1, Whitehead Road Elementary rose 14 points to 79.7, and Whit Davis Elementary rose nearly 25 points to 71 -- real, double-digit, campus-specific improvement, not a generic district-wide claim.

District-Wide GreatSchools Ratings

GreatSchools rates CCSD's 21 schools at an average of 6.1/10 -- a real, "solid" but not top-tier composite score, per GreatSchools' own characterization. The highest-rated school in the district is Cleveland Road Elementary School, at 8.6/10, illustrating the real range that exists within a single district-wide average -- a family evaluating a specific address should check the individual assigned school's current rating rather than relying on the district-wide figure alone.

District Scale

CCSD serves 22 schools and 12,115 students district-wide per GreatSchools' district profile -- notably, the number of schools serving the broader "Athens" area (67, per a separate GreatSchools count that includes schools outside the CCSD district boundary or private/charter options) is more than triple the CCSD-specific count, a reminder that "Athens schools" and "Clarke County School District" are not perfectly synonymous, and a family should confirm the specific district and assigned campus for any address.

What This Page Does Not Claim

A detailed, independently confirmed statewide CCRPI letter-grade or numeric ranking specifically for CCSD as a whole (comparable to the district-level grades cited for other markets in this dataset) was not confirmed from a primary Georgia Department of Education source this pass -- the CCRPI gains and GreatSchools ratings above are the most current, sourced data available. Confirm the current-year CCRPI score and GreatSchools rating for a specific assigned school directly before relying on any district-wide characterization for a real relocation decision.

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Last reviewed: 2026-08-22. Independent research; not financial, tax, or legal advice -- confirm current figures with a local professional before making a decision.