Coweta County's

newest middle school is also its highest ranked in a new survey by an

education foundation.

Each year,

the Georgia Public Policy Foundation analyzes each of the state's schools

using test scores and poverty rates to present an overview of how schools

rank across the state.

This year,

out of 416 middle schools in the state, Madras Middle School ranked 43rd.

Other middle

school rankings included:

Arnall Middle School-135th.

Evans Middle School-159th.

East Coweta Middle-160th.

Central Middle-243rd.

The foundation

averages the math and reading scores on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills.

The report card also figures in the percentage of fifth grade students

with scores above the 50th percentile in reading and math.

The study also

looks at the poverty rate for each school. The poverty rate is determined

In the high

school rankings, Northgate High School ranked 62nd out of 319 schools

across the state, while East Coweta ranked 92nd and Newnan High came in

at 112.

In the last

few years, Coweta County schools have come under fire for lower rankings

in tests scores compared to several other school systems throughout the

metro Atlanta area.

But the school

system has realigned the curriculum and Superintendent of Education Richard

Brooks is encouraged by the rise in test scores and school rankings he

has seen occur in the last two years, he says.