A.L. Burruss Elementary School vs Marietta Center for Advanced Academics

A.L. Burruss Elementary School holds a narrow overall edge over Marietta Center for Advanced Academics — 9.5/10 versus 8.9/10 — but both schools rank among Georgia's best. Burruss sits at #10 of 2,268 Georgia elementary schools, while the Marietta Center for Advanced Academics lands at #71 of 2,268. That 61-spot gap is meaningful, yet both schools are operating in the state's top 3%, making the choice between them less about quality and more about fit.

The academic picture flips when you look inside the ratings. Marietta Center for Advanced Academics posts a perfect 10.0/10 academic score, a full 1.3 points above A.L. Burruss Elementary School's 8.7/10 — a gap that reflects the school's dedicated advanced curriculum. Burruss counters with a 9.9/10 growth score against the Center's 9.0/10, meaning Burruss is doing more to accelerate student progress relative to starting points. Families who prioritize absolute achievement levels will favor the Center; those who value how much a school moves individual students will favor Burruss.

Demographic and structural differences are sharp. A.L. Burruss Elementary School enrolls 388 students with a 10.2:1 student-teacher ratio and 55% of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. Marietta Center for Advanced Academics serves 295 students at a 15.5:1 ratio with 34% on free or reduced-price lunch. Burruss's smaller class sizes give it a meaningful staffing advantage — five additional students per teacher at the Center translates to noticeably less individual attention per child despite the school's specialized mission.

The two schools also serve different grade spans: A.L. Burruss Elementary School runs PK through 5th grade, covering the full elementary arc including pre-K, while Marietta Center for Advanced Academics serves only grades 3 through 5. Families with kindergarten or younger children cannot enroll at the Center at all, making Burruss the only option for those early years. Sitting just 3.0 miles apart in Marietta, both schools are geographically accessible for most families in the city, making the grade-range and program-type distinctions the primary deciding factors.