Pike in Top 50 school systems in state

Pike County schools were recently ranked 45th out of the 169 eligible school districts and 561 ineligible school districts in the state by Niche.com. The site recently released a Top 100 list of schools based on student grades and statistics and surveyed opinions of students, alumni and parents. Pike is ranked 45th in Georgia with a grade of B in academics, educational outcomes and student culture and diversity, a grade of B- in extracurriculars, food, teachers and sports and fitness, a grade of C+ in administration and policies and health and safety and a grade of C in resources and facilities. Neighboring Lamar County was ranked 101st; Upson County was ranked 131st and Spalding County was ranked 143rd. ’External accolades are nice but more important to us is the experience our students have each day,’ said superintendent Dr. Michael Duncan. ‘We’re striving to improve college and career readiness by increasing instructional effectiveness and rigor. We cannot afford to be complacent.’Pike County schools are listed as having 3,475 students attending four different schools in grades pre-K through 12th grade. ’According to state standards, 88% of students in this district are considered proficient in math and/or reading,’ states Niche.com. ‘The district has an annual budget of $26,401,000, spending an average of $7,424 per student. There have been 99 reviews written and they have been mostly positive.’Lamar County is ranked as 101st with a C+ in academics, administration and policies, educational outcomes, health and safety, resources and facilities and teachers, a B in sports and fitness and student culture and diversity and a B- in extracurriculars and food. Thomason-Upson County schools are ranked 131st with a C+ in academics, food and resources and facilities, a C in administration and policies, educational outcomes and teachers and a C- in extracurriculars, health and safety and sports and fitness. Spalding County schools are ranked 143rd with a D+ in administration and policies, a C- in extracurriculars, food, health and safety and sports and fitness and a C in academics, educational outcomes, recourses and facilities and teachers.Nationwide, Niche ranks 8,738 school districts based on dozens of key statistics from each school and a total of 4.6 million opinions from 280,000 students, alumni and parents. ’A high ranking indicates the district contains great schools with exceptional teachers, sufficient resources and a diverse set of high-achieving students who rate their experiences very highly,’ says Niche.com.