Middle school (grades 6-8) · Lawrenceville, GA

Sweetwater Middle School

Federal NCES profile for Sweetwater Middle School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 42/100.

2024-25 NCES dataMiddle school (grades 6-8)NCES 130255001144
0/100100/10042/100
👥 S:T ratio
44
🌟 Gifted program
70
🎓 Counselors
2
📋 Attendance
51
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →

The verdict

Sweetwater Middle School earns 42/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Georgia median.

#7 of 7
middle schools in Lawrenceville · Resource Index
42
Resource Index · Typical
14.1:1
students per teacher
71.6%
free-lunch eligible

Sweetwater Middle School has class sizes near the Georgia median. Computed live against every Georgia school reporting to NCES.

By Resource Investment Index, Sweetwater Middle School ranks #7 of 7 middle schools in Lawrenceville, GA.

School address

Enrollment

1,470

Georgia · 2024-25 NCES data

Teachers (FTE)

104.0

Federal CCD staff survey

Students per teacher

14.1:1

vs 14.4:1 Georgia avg

-2% vs state

Free-lunch eligible

71.6%

vs 60.7% Georgia avg

+18% vs state

Student-teacher ratio in context

How Sweetwater Middle School compares with Georgia and U.S. medians

At or below 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 Sweetwater Middle School

Sweetwater Middle School is a higher-need, large middle school in Lawrenceville, Georgia, enrolling 1,470 students.

At 14.1:1, its student-teacher ratio sits close to the Georgia median, within a few percentage points of the 14.4:1 state norm, neither notably crowded nor notably small.

Its free-meal eligibility rate of 71.6% lands close to the Georgia typical range, neither a high- nor low-need campus by this measure.

By headcount it is one of the larger campuses in Georgia, bigger than 92% of state schools at 1,470 students.

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

Against 96 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks in the upper tier at #23.

Its student body is led by Hispanic or Latino (74%) and African American (15%) (diversity index 43/100).

Counselor access is stretched at roughly 490 students per counselor, well above the ASCA-recommended 250:1 ceiling.

Attendance runs somewhat below the norm, with 19.7% of students chronically absent per the 2021-22 civil-rights collection.

Discipline events run high: 495 in- and out-of-school suspensions were reported for 1,470 students in the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection.

Among Lawrenceville's middle schools, it stands alongside Richards Middle School (1,974 students): Sweetwater Middle School is smaller than that campus by headcount and runs leaner classes (14.1:1 vs 15.5:1).

Gwinnett County also operates Brookwood High School (3,803 students) and Grayson High School (3,627 students) alongside Sweetwater Middle School.

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 Sweetwater Middle School compares

Sweetwater Middle School on the metrics families compare, against Georgia and U.S. means.

Metric This school vs Georgia Georgia avg U.S. avg
Students per teacher 14.1:1 ▼ 2% 14.4:1 15.7:1
Free-lunch eligible 71.6% ▲ 18% 60.7% 51.7%
Enrollment 1,470 top 8% - -

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

14.1:1
Leaner classes than 56% of US schools, a middle-of-the-pack class size.
1,470
Bigger than 96% of US schools by enrollment, a large campus nationally.

Equity indicators (what these measure)

Economic need
71.6%
free-lunch eligible - 18% 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
14.1:1
students per teacher - 2% below state mean
Top 51% in Georgia - lower ratio than 49% of state schools
Close to the 15:1 benchmark most often cited for individualized attention.
Engagement
19.7%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
In the 15-20% range, nearing the "high" absenteeism threshold.
Funding equity
$13,113
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
Counselors3.0 FTE
Per 490 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
299
in-school suspensions + 196 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 20.3 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 33.7 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 73.5%
African American 15.0%
Asian 7.3%
White 2.2%
Two or More 1.8%
American Indian / Alaska Native 0.1%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander 0.1%

Largest group: Hispanic or Latino at 73.5% of enrollment.

Student-body diversity index 43.1/100

Simpson diversity index - at 43.1, Sweetwater Middle School is less mixed than the Georgia school average of 50.0.

Programs

Gifted & talented Yes

Funding & spending

District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Gwinnett County, which includes Sweetwater Middle School.

$13,113
Per student
-5%
vs Georgia
Avg $13,863
-21%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 44.3%
State 42.0%
Federal 13.7%

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 Sweetwater Middle School Compares to District-Mates

School Enrollment Economic Profile Student-Teacher Ratio
Brookwood High School Larger Lower economic need Higher S:T ratio
Grayson High School Larger Lower economic need Higher S:T ratio
Parkview High School Larger Lower economic need Higher S:T ratio
Peachtree Ridge High School Larger Lower economic need Higher S:T ratio
Archer High School Larger Lower economic need Higher S:T ratio

Comparisons are relative to Sweetwater Middle School's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.

Other Schools in This District

Gwinnett County · 5 sibling schools

View district profile

Similar middle schools in Lawrenceville

6 comparable middle schools (grades 6-8) serving the same city.

Similar middle 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 Sweetwater Middle School'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 Sweetwater Middle School

How many students attend Sweetwater Middle School?

Sweetwater Middle School has 1,470 students enrolled. It is a middle school in Lawrenceville, GA.

What is the student-teacher ratio at Sweetwater Middle School?

The student-teacher ratio at Sweetwater Middle School is 14.1:1, which is 2% lower than the Georgia average of 14.4:1 and 10% 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 Sweetwater Middle School?

71.6% of students at Sweetwater Middle School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Georgia average of 60.7%.

What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Sweetwater Middle School?

The largest demographic group at Sweetwater Middle School is Hispanic or Latino at 73.5% of enrollment, in Lawrenceville, GA.

What is the Resource Investment Index for Sweetwater Middle School?

Sweetwater Middle School has a Resource Investment Index of 42/100 (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 Sweetwater Middle School rank among middle schools in Lawrenceville?

By Resource Investment Index, Sweetwater Middle School ranks #7 of 7 middle schools in Lawrenceville, GA. This compares federal resource and staffing data among local peers; it is not a test-score or academic ranking. See all middle schools in Lawrenceville on the city page.

Is Sweetwater Middle School a good school?

Sweetwater Middle School earns 42/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes near the Georgia median. 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 Gwinnett County?

Besides Sweetwater Middle School, Gwinnett County also operates Brookwood High School (3,803 students), Grayson High School (3,627 students), and Parkview High School (3,216 students). See the Gwinnett 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.