Forsyth Schools Places Third In New State Ranking

FORSYTH COUNTY, GA — Forsyth County Schools has once again been named a top district in Georgia, according to data compiler Niche which ranked Georgia's best school districts for the 2019-20 school year. The rankings were released Monday as part of the website's 2020 K-12 rankings.

Forsyth Schools has more than 46,000 students in grades PK, K-12 with a student-teacher ratio of 17 to 1. According to state test scores, 73 percent of students are at least proficient in math and 70 percent in reading.

Each Georgia school district received a letter grade in the following categories: Academics; Diversity; Teachers; College Prep; Clubs & Activities; Health & Safety; Administration; Sports; Food; and Resources & Facilities.

Forsyth County earned a score of "A" in every category except food, diversity, and resources and facilities, where it earned a score of "B."

Niche ranks nearly 100,000 schools and districts based on statistics and millions of opinions from students and parents.

To arrive at the rankings, Niche looked at data from the U.S. Department of Education as well as test scores, college data, and ratings collected from Niche users. (You can read more about the methodology here.)

Forsyth Schools was ranked in multiple categories among other Georgia schools, including:

• No. 3 for best school districts
• No. 15 for districts with the best teachers
• No. 23 for safest school districts
• No. 32 for best places to teach
• No. 43 for best school district for athletes
• No. 85 for most diverse school districts

Compared to schools in the metro Atlanta area, Forsyth ranked:

• No. 2 best school district in Atlanta area
• No. 5 for districts with the best teachers
• No. 7 for safest school districts
• No. 7 for best places to teach
• No. 15 for best school district for athletes
• No. 24 for most diverse school districts

Nationally, Forsyth ranks No. 295 out of the nearly 11,000 districts ranked best in the country, and No. 998 for best district for athletes nationwide.

The report included reviews from parents, district alumni and current students.

A parent said their family "moved to Forsyth County (from Gwinnett) for the schools. We had three kids go through all levels and all three graduated from South Forsyth HS. All took advantage of AP classes and varsity athletics. One was also in the IB program. We have nothing but positives to say about SFHS. The teachers, coaches and counselors are all wonderful. Each child was well-prepared for college (2 at UGA, 1 at Georgia College). One child is already a doctor (pediatrician), one is second year medical student and one is a first year dental student. So we are very happy with our kid’s future, thanks in part to their education from Forsyth County Schools!"

A past Forsyth Schools student said, "My life journey started in Forsyth County and I could have not asked for a better school system. Starting from Vickery Creek Elementary to Vickery Creek Middle School ending with West Forsyth High School. I love this county, in high school, I took Audio Video Technology and Film, I really enjoyed it, there was very high tech equipment. The whole county was really rich. Brand new equipment, new computers every few hours. And it changes extremely quickly. I graduated in the class of 2018, I went back on this Monday (05/13/2019), and after one year, there are brand new screens in every classroom throughout the county."

The top-ranked school district in Georgia is Buford City Schools. Niche gave the school system an A or an A+ in every category. Last year, Buford was also No. 1. (See last year's list as a comparison: Georgia's Best School Districts: New Rankings Released)

Here the top 30 from the list of top school districts in Georgia as ranked by Niche.com:

1. Buford City Schools
2. Oconee County Schools
3. Forsyth County Schools
4. Decatur City Schools
5. Jefferson City Schools
6. Fayette County Public Schools
7. Carrollton City Schools
8. Bremen City Schools
9. Calhoun City Schools
10. Cartersville City Schools
11. Camden County Schools
12. Pierce County Schools
13. Union County Schools
14. Cherokee County Schools
15. Monroe County Schools
16. Cobb County Schools
17. Trion City Schools
18. Bleckley County Schools
19. Houston County Schools
20. Madison County Schools
21. Gwinnett County Public Schools
22. Rabun County Schools
23. Morgan County Schools
24. Columbia County Schools
25. Heard County Schools
26. Georgia Academy for the Blind
27. Harris County Schools
28. Lowndes County Schools
29. Habersham County Schools
30. Fulton County Schools

Niche looked at more than 94,000 public schools, 4,100 private schools and nearly 11,000 school districts across the country. The rankings are meant to help parents and students find schools that best fit their needs.

"Unlike traditional school rankings, which rely almost exclusively on test scores and academic performance, Niche's rankings provide a real-life view of what it's like to attend a given school," the company said in a news release.

Comments from current students, alumni, and parents are included in the analysis, as well as observations about things like campus life, extracurricular activities, sports options, diversity, and programs for gifted and special needs students.

"Parents and students need more than test-score data," Luke Skurman, CEO at Niche, said in the news release. "They need to understand what it's really like to attend a school before they start the application or registration process."