During the 2024-25 school year, Garden Lakes Elementary School had an enrollment of 273 white students, a decrease of 3.5% compared to the prior year, based on data from the Georgia Department of Education.
The total student population at Garden Lakes Elementary School stood at 472 in the same academic period. White students represented 58% of the enrollment, the highest proportion among all groups at the school.
The campus is part of Floyd County School District, which has its main office in Rome.
Within the 14 schools of Floyd County School District, Armuchee High School had the largest white student enrollment in 2024-25, with 742 students.
Georgia’s public school enrollment exceeded 1.7 million students, according to the Georgia Department of Education’s Fiscal Year 2026-1 statistics. Elementary grades had the largest share at 787,206 students (45.9%), then middle school with 388,733 students (22.7%), and high school with 539,092 students (31.4%).
Chronic absenteeism continues to be a significant concern post-pandemic in Georgia schools, with 20.7% of all students missing at least 10% of school days in 2024, the Georgia Department of Education reported. To address attendance, GaDOE introduced a state initiative featuring a real-time attendance dashboard, a statewide awareness push, and specialized support for districts with the highest needs around daily attendance.
In 2025, Georgia legislators approved changes to school attendance laws to prevent expulsion based solely on absenteeism, adding new reporting obligations and adjusting requirements for alternative diploma pathways.
By 2026, Georgia’s student-to-teacher ratio averaged about 14:1, which outperformed the national average of 15:1.
| School Year | Total Enrollment | Total white students | % of white students |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010-11 | 555 | 349 | 63% |
| 2011-12 | 578 | 369 | 64% |
| 2012-13 | 587 | 375 | 64% |
| 2013-14 | 608 | 401 | 66% |
| 2014-15 | 587 | 375 | 64% |
| 2015-16 | 630 | 396 | 63% |
| 2016-17 | 641 | 397 | 62% |
| 2017-18 | 630 | 396 | 63% |
| 2018-19 | 603 | 385 | 64% |
| 2019-20 | 602 | 397 | 66% |
| 2020-21 | 613 | 380 | 62% |
| 2021-22 | 480 | 297 | 62% |
| 2022-23 | 459 | 275 | 60% |
| 2023-24 | 465 | 283 | 61% |
| 2024-25 | 472 | 273 | 58% |
Information in this article was obtained from the Georgia Department of Education. The source data can be found here.
