Atlanta Public Schools sees spike with 2025 graduation rate

ATLANTA - Atlanta Public Schools has reached a milestone, recording a high school graduation rate above 90 percent for the first time in district history.

By the numbers:

Officials said the 2025 graduation rate climbed to 90.48 percent, surpassing Georgia’s statewide average of 87.2 percent. It marks the third consecutive year APS has outpaced the state, both setting all-time highs.

Out of the district’s 16 high schools with graduating classes, 11 posted year-over-year gains. Frederick Douglass High School recorded the sharpest jump among traditional schools, rising more than 7 points from 82.1 to 89.4 percent. Since 2022, Douglass has improved by 27.3 points in a community that has endured decades of socioeconomic challenges.

Several schools stood out for exceptional performance. Coretta Scott King Young Women’s Leadership Academy achieved a 100 percent graduation rate for the seventh consecutive year. Midtown High School showed strong growth, while Booker T. Washington High School posted a 5.33-point gain from the previous year.

What they're saying:

"This is indeed amazing, a great accomplishment for our school district," said Dr. Forestella Taylor, cluster superintendent at Atlanta Public Schools. "This is clearly the result of the efforts of all of our teachers and students, beginning from kindergarten all the way up to 12th grade, simply because graduation begins as soon as we begin working with students on literacy and math."

Taylor, who previously served as principal at Douglass, said such gains come from deliberate strategies, including wraparound services, data monitoring and individualized student support. "Not all of our students are in scenarios where they have support systems that can help them cross that graduation line," she said. "So we have many monitoring tools, supports, wraparound services to make sure that each and every student has a wonderful opportunity to reach this milestone."

Taylor acknowledged the district’s troubled past, including the test-cheating scandal that surfaced more than a decade ago, but emphasized that new systems and interventions have taken hold. "We acknowledge the past, but we are definitely looking forward to the future," she said. "The interventions and the protocols and the systems that we are putting in place around academics are absolutely working."

She added that the progress is more than a statistic. "It’s good for our school system. It’s good for our families. It’s good for our kids. And it’s absolutely good for our community."