28 public K-12 schools in Dalton from NCES Common Core of Data: enrollment, grade span, demographics, and Civil Rights Data Collection statistics for every active campus.
National city placement
According to NCES CCD 2024-25, Dalton has more public-school enrollment than 91% of the 4,487 US cities in this directory. Dalton lands in the upper national tier on both the average Resource Investment Index and teacher staffing intensity. Those measures come from different inputs: the index combines reported counselors, gifted access, attendance, and staffing, while the staffing percentile compares the city's student-teacher ratio directly. Agreement across both measures is stronger evidence of broad reported capacity than either score alone, though neither is a test-score rating or a guarantee about an individual classroom.
16 of Dalton's 28 listed schools use NCES's combined or “other” grade-level classification. Citywide averages therefore blend campuses serving unusually broad or nonstandard grade spans with conventional elementary, middle, and high schools. Grade configuration is a first-order comparison here, not a minor label.
The 38-point gap between Elbert Shaw Regional Youth Detention Center and Dalton High School shows the range hidden by Dalton's average Resource Investment Index. The city figure is useful for national placement, but families ultimately choose among campuses with different grade spans, enrollment, district affiliations, and reported support fields. Start with schools serving the relevant grade level, then compare the index components rather than assuming the city average describes any one classroom.
Dalton school enrollment ranges from 9 students (lowest) to 1,919 students (highest), a spread of 1,910 students. That ratio is an extreme outlier spread — among the widest gaps observed anywhere in this dataset. Per-school staffing and program breadth can differ sharply at opposite ends of that enrollment range, so the city average should not be treated as a typical campus.
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
The reported share clears the 50% majority mark. Title I operates under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, 2015), but its statutory allocation uses additional LEA-level counts and rules not represented by this average. This percentage is an economic-need context measure; it does not establish a Title I award, show dollars received, or describe how funds are distributed among campuses.
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
student-teacher ratio is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: the ratio counts FTE classroom teachers against total enrollment, push-in specialists, English-language aides, special-education co-teachers, and counselors are not included in most reporting Lower values often correlate with smaller scale and population characteristics rather than higher resource budgets per se.
| # | School | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Elbert Shaw Regional Youth Detention Center | 63 |
| 2. | Varnell Elementary School | 57 |
| 3. | Roan Elementary School | 55 |
| 4. | City Park Elementary School | 53 |
| 5. | New Hope Middle School | 53 |
| 6. | Brookwood Elementary School | 52 |
| 7. | Cedar Ridge Elementary | 52 |
| 8. | Hammond Creek Middle School | 51 |
| 9. | Pleasant Grove Elementary School | 51 |
| 10. | Dawnville Elementary School | 51 |
| 11. | Dug Gap Elementary School | 51 |
| 12. | Blue Ridge Elementary School | 49 |
| 13. | Park Creek Elementary School | 49 |
| 14. | Eastbrook Middle School | 48 |
| 15. | Dalton Jr. High School | 48 |
| 16. | New Hope Elementary School | 48 |
| 17. | The Dalton Academy | 48 |
| 18. | Antioch Elementary School | 48 |
| 19. | Phoenix High School | 48 |
| 20. | North Whitfield Middle School | 47 |
| 21. | Beaverdale Elementary School | 47 |
| 22. | Westwood Elementary School | 46 |
| 23. | Eastside Elementary School | 45 |
| 24. | Valley Point Elementary School | 45 |
| 25. | Valley Point Middle School | 45 |
| 26. | Coahulla Creek High School | 40 |
| 27. | Southeast Whitfield County High School | 31 |
| 28. | Dalton High School | 25 |
Ranked by the Simpson student-body diversity index (0-100) from NCES race and ethnicity data, where higher means a more evenly mixed student body. It measures mix, not quality.
Elbert Shaw Regional Youth Detention Center has the highest Resource Investment Index among the Dalton schools in this federal-data comparison at 63/100. The index summarizes reported staffing, counseling, gifted-program, and attendance inputs; it is not an academic rating.
Dalton has 28 public schools with a total enrollment of 16,911 students. Average student-teacher ratio: 12.8:1.
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Data from NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 and Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) 2021-22. The Resource Investment Index uses reported student-teacher ratio, counselor access, gifted programs, and attendance; it is not an academic rating. Cities must include at least five schools to be listed. This public-data comparison is for informational purposes: verify current enrollment, attendance boundaries, and programs with the school district before acting. See the guide to understanding NCES data.
