Atlanta Public Schools have announced the highest graduation rate in Georgia at 86.6%, surpassing the state’s rate by 2.2 percentage points in the latest data release.
In 2023, Atlanta Public Schools saw its largest graduating class to date, with 2,812 students successfully completing high school. This milestone comes as the state of Georgia adheres to the federal law’s requirement for a four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate, which calculates the percentage of students obtaining a regular high school diploma within four years. The cohort is initially composed of students starting ninth grade and is later adjusted by incorporating newcomers and accounting for those who transfer out, maintaining students who may have dropped out within the four-year adjusted cohort.
“I am incredibly proud of the graduating Class of 2023,” said APS Interim Superintendent Dr. Danielle Battle. “We are simply elated to celebrate another historic accomplishment! Our students and staff have worked extremely hard to increase our graduation rate and for our results to surpass the state average is truly a testament to the tremendous efforts of everyone in Atlanta Public Schools. We plan to continue building on this momentum by amplifying the work we’re currently doing.”
Despite the growth, the district saw some opportunities to close the gap between black and white students compared to their white counterparts. Currently the graduation rates for black students sits at 84.7% and 82.3% for Hispanic students compared to white students who graduate 96.7%. Students with disabilities had a four percentage point increase of 76.2% in the cohort class of 2023. Students who are Economically Disadvantaged students reached a graduation rate of 82.8% compared to the class of 2022.
“We recognize that gaps in achievement persist among our students, so we are continuing to implement strategies for increasing achievement across all student groups,” Dr. Battle said. “These strategies include cultivating a district of readers, shifting resources toward the classroom, operating with openness and collaboration, empowering our educators, and making a personal commitment to excellence. This formula, in conjunction with the availability of ongoing wraparound services, will not only increase student achievement but will benefit the whole child and will allow more to cross the finish line.”
The Numbers
- With 16 schools with graduating classes of seniors, 11 had gains compared to the cohort graduating class of 2022.
- Douglass High School achieved a 7.2 percentage point gain.
- Mays High School achieved a 5.7 percentage point gain.
- Midtown High School achieved a 4.9 percentage point gain.
- North Atlanta High School achieved a 4.5 percentage point gain.
- Atlanta Classical achieved a 3.9 percentage point gain.
- South Atlanta High School achieved a 3.3 percentage point gain.
- Carver STEAM achieved a 2.1 percentage point gain.
- Carver Early College achieved a 1.4 percentage point gain.
- KIPP Collegiate achieved a 0.9 percentage point gain.
- Maynard Jackson High School achieved a 0.4 percentage point gain.
Graduation Rates with over 90%
There were eight schools with graduation rates greater than 90 percent and they include:
- Atlanta Classical Academy (100%)
- Coretta Scott King Young Women’s Leadership Academy (100%)
- Drew Secondary (98.4%)
- North Atlanta (94.2%)
- BEST (93.8%)
- Carver Early (93.1%)
- KIPP Collegiate (93.0%)
- Midtown (91.3%).
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