Other / mixed grade configuration · Cedartown, GA

Northside Elementary

Federal NCES profile for Northside Elementary, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 43/100.

2024-25 NCES dataOther / mixed grade configurationNCES 130420002010
0/100100/10043/100
👥 S:T ratio
51
🌟 Gifted program
70
🎓 Counselors
0
📋 Attendance
50
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →

The verdict

Northside Elementary earns 43/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 77% of Georgia schools.

#3 of 5
schools in Cedartown · Resource Index
43
Resource Index · Typical
12.3:1
small classes for Georgia
77.9%
free-lunch eligible

Northside Elementary has class sizes smaller than 77% of Georgia schools. Computed live against every Georgia school reporting to NCES.

By Resource Investment Index, Northside Elementary ranks #3 of 5 schools in Cedartown, GA.

School address

Enrollment

531

Georgia · 2024-25 NCES data

Teachers (FTE)

43.0

Federal CCD staff survey

Students per teacher

12.3:1

vs 14.4:1 Georgia avg

-15% vs state

Free-lunch eligible

77.9%

vs 60.7% Georgia avg

+28% vs state

Student-teacher ratio in context

How Northside Elementary compares with Georgia and U.S. medians

Smaller classes than state median

Source: NCES Common Core of Data As of 2024-25 federal staff survey Total enrollment ÷ full-time-equivalent classroom teachers

What stands out at Northside Elementary

Northside Elementary is a high-poverty, mid-sized combined-grade school in Cedartown, Georgia, enrolling 531 students.

Class sizes run a bit leaner than typical: 12.3:1 puts it in the smaller third of Georgia schools by student-teacher ratio.

Economic need runs somewhat above the state's typical profile, with 77.9% of students eligible for free meals.

With 531 students, its enrollment sits close to the Georgia median campus size.

Its Resource Investment Index sits near the middle of the pack among 2,314 scored Georgia schools.

Against 331 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks in the upper tier at #107.

Its student body is led by Hispanic or Latino (53%) and White (31%) (diversity index 61/100).

Counselor access is stretched at roughly 531 students per counselor, well above the ASCA-recommended 250:1 ceiling.

Attendance runs somewhat below the norm, with 20.0% of students chronically absent per the 2021-22 civil-rights collection.

Its district draws 22.3% of revenue from federal sources, an above-typical federal share that tends to track a higher-need student population.

Among Cedartown's public schools, it stands alongside Westside Elementary School (588 students): Northside Elementary is smaller than that campus by headcount and runs leaner classes (12.3:1 vs 14:1).

Polk County also operates Cedartown High School (1,448 students) and Cedartown Middle School (997 students) alongside Northside Elementary.

Sourced from NCES CCD, CRDC, and F-33 (federal records, not a quality verdict). How we source and compute this.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25

How Northside Elementary compares

Northside Elementary on the metrics families compare, against Georgia and U.S. means.

Metric This school vs Georgia Georgia avg U.S. avg
Students per teacher 12.3:1 ▼ 15% 14.4:1 15.7:1
Free-lunch eligible 77.9% ▲ 28% 60.7% 51.7%
Enrollment 531 top 64% - -

Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25

12.3:1
Leaner classes than 73% of US schools, among the more generously staffed nationally.
531
Bigger than 65% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.

Equity indicators (what these measure)

Economic need
77.9%
free-lunch eligible - 28% above the Georgia average of 60.7%
Above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold; federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
Staffing depth
12.3:1
students per teacher - 15% below state mean
Top 23% in Georgia - lower ratio than 77% of state schools
Well under the widely cited 15:1 individualized-attention benchmark, among the leaner class loads nationally.
Engagement
20.0%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
At or above 20%, the commonly used threshold for "high" chronic absenteeism, signaling significant barriers to regular attendance.
Funding equity
$12,775
per pupil, district-wide - below Georgia avg of $13,863
Well below the U.S. average per-pupil spend, a notably leaner funding position that may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors1.0 FTE
Per 531 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
0
in-school suspensions + 18 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.0 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 3.4 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.

Overview

  • Common Core of Data (June 2026): enrollment, staffing, and the student-teacher ratio above.
  • Civil Rights Data Collection: discipline counts and program access (AP, gifted, special education).
  • F-33 School District Finance Survey: the district-wide per-pupil spending figures below.

Three separate federal collections, each on its own reporting cadence - which is why this school's numbers line up on a consistent basis against every other school and state on this site, rather than mixing figures pulled from different survey years.

Student demographics

Hispanic or Latino 53.3%
White 31.1%
African American 10.7%
Two or More 4.7%
Asian 0.2%

Largest group: Hispanic or Latino at 53.3% of enrollment.

Student-body diversity index 60.6/100

Simpson diversity index - at 60.6, Northside Elementary is more mixed than the Georgia school average of 50.0.

Programs

Gifted & talented Yes

Funding & spending

District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Polk County, which includes Northside Elementary.

$12,775
Per student
-8%
vs Georgia
Avg $13,863
-23%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 25.6%
State 52.0%
Federal 22.3%

Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey District-level finance · FY 2021-22 Per-pupil expenditure reflects the district-wide average. Individual school budgets are not reported at the federal level.

How Northside Elementary Compares to District-Mates

School Enrollment Economic Profile Student-Teacher Ratio
Cedartown High School Larger Similar economic need Higher S:T ratio
Cedartown Middle School Larger Similar economic need Higher S:T ratio
Rockmart High School Larger Similar economic need Higher S:T ratio
Eastside Elementary School Larger Similar economic need Higher S:T ratio
Van Wert Elementary School Larger Similar economic need Similar S:T ratio

Comparisons are relative to Northside Elementary's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.

Other Schools in This District

Polk County · 5 sibling schools

View district profile

Similar other schools in Cedartown

4 comparable other schools (grades Mixed) serving the same city.

Similar other schools statewide

Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of Georgia, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.

Next steps

Verify locally before acting on Northside Elementary's federal record.

Federal record (CCD 2024-25, CRDC 2021-22) - PlainSchools assigns no subjective rating; the composite quality score is a transparent, reproducible index computed from this cited federal data.

Frequently asked questions about Northside Elementary

How many students attend Northside Elementary?

Northside Elementary has 531 students enrolled. It is a public school in Cedartown, GA.

What is the student-teacher ratio at Northside Elementary?

The student-teacher ratio at Northside Elementary is 12.3:1, which is 15% lower than the Georgia average of 14.4:1 and 22% lower than the national average of 15.7:1. Lower ratios generally mean more individual attention per student.

What percentage of students receive free lunch at Northside Elementary?

77.9% of students at Northside Elementary are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Georgia average of 60.7%.

What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Northside Elementary?

The largest demographic group at Northside Elementary is Hispanic or Latino at 53.3% of enrollment, in Cedartown, GA. Its student body is more racially and ethnically mixed than most US schools, with a diversity index of 60.6/100.

What is the Resource Investment Index for Northside Elementary?

Northside Elementary has a Resource Investment Index of 43/100 (typical reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, counselor availability, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).

How does Northside Elementary rank among schools in Cedartown?

By Resource Investment Index, Northside Elementary ranks #3 of 5 schools in Cedartown, GA. This compares federal resource and staffing data among local peers; it is not a test-score or academic ranking. See all schools in Cedartown on the city page.

Is Northside Elementary a good school?

Northside Elementary earns 43/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 77% of Georgia schools. This is a resource snapshot, not an academic rating; see the Resource Investment Index question above for what the number does and doesn't measure.

What other schools are in Polk County?

Besides Northside Elementary, Polk County also operates Cedartown High School (1,448 students), Cedartown Middle School (997 students), and Rockmart High School (956 students). See the Polk County district page for the complete list.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) CCD + Public School Universe (2024-25), CRDC (2021-22), F-33 District Finance Survey (FY 2021-22) · 2024-25 Data as of the 2024-25 school year. Coverage from U.S. Department of Education NCES Common Core of Data. Varies by entity type; administrative districts and certain charter networks may report only a subset of fields.

All federal data sources used on this page

Full source list and how we compute each figure: methodology page.

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Every figure on PlainSchools is rendered directly from the source NCES, CRDC and F-33 federal records, no number is typed in by an editor. Each school's figures reflect its most recent NCES/CRDC submission on file. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of June 2026.