Georgia's 35 Best School Districts 2021: New Rankings Released

GEORGIA — Data compiler Niche has ranked Georgia's best school districts for the 2020-2021 school year.

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.

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.)

The top-ranked school district in Georgia is Buford City Schools. Niche gave the school system an A or an A+ in all categories including diversity, college prep, health and safety, sports, academics and teachers. Last year, Buford City Schools was also No. 1.

Here are Georgia's 35 top school districts, according to Niche.com:

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

All of the above listed schools from A+ to A- grades.

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.