Thomasville City Schools has ranked #1 in SAT Scores out of 38 counties in the Southwest Georgia region for four out of the past five years, ranking #2 behind Lee County Schools in 2018. This achievement puts the school district in the top 11% academically of all school districts statewide.
The school system’s mean score of 1067 also outperformed the national average, surpassing it by 37 points. The Georgia Department of Education made the announcement on September 21. Their rankings tied Thomasville City Schools with the Marietta School District, ranking the City School system #5 in Math and #2 in Evidence Based Reading and Writing for all districts south of Metro Atlanta. A track record of these achievements includes ranking #1 in the region four of the last five years, coming in second in SWGA behind Lee County Schools in 2018. TCS was #1 in 2020, 2019, 2017 and 2016 and tied with Gwinnett County Schools for #13 in the state in 2019.
Superintendent Ben Wiggins stated, “This is an incredible accomplishment and I commend our recent graduates, current students and our outstanding K-12 faculty. High levels of achievement on the SAT are truly a culmination of the tremendous effort of all our teachers at each grade level. This is a direct result of the expectations for academic excellence by our teachers, students and parents.”
Brian Beaty, principal of Thomasville City High School, added, “Thomasville City Schools has always been known for its high level of rigor and academic excellence. This is evident in the gifted and hardworking teachers and students we have in our district. We offer an advanced program that begins with high expectations and high levels of student engagement in our elementary schools to build rigor as students advance through our comprehensive program. This culminates in high level SAT scores as well as having a record number of AP Scholars and having our students accepted into some of the most prestigious universities in the country. I am proud to be a part of a program that has truly become a beacon in South Georgia.”
A cornerstone of student success has been an intense focus on the school’s English program. English teacher Lynn Stowers said, “Great results come from hard work. A rigorous curriculum which challenges the student body to stretch themselves to achieve more than they thought they could creates both the necessity of the hard work and the achievement of great results. Students characterized by an acceptance of this idea, added to a faculty which aids their achievement, is a winning combination.”
Thomasville City Schools was founded in 1900. Approximately 2900 students are currently enrolled in five schools within the district. The district is comprised of three PreK-5 elementary buildings, one 6-8 middle school, and one 9-12 high school. The Scholars Academy for grades 6-12 operates as a school-within-a-school program and is housed on the middle school campus. The Mission of the school system is to inspire the best problem solvers, innovators, life-long learners, and productive citizens of our community.
