Hightower Trail Middle School in Marietta

Category	Rating	Details
Test Scores	10/10	The Test Score Rating examines how students at this school performed on standardized tests compared with other schools in the state. The Test Rating was created using 2025 Georgia Milestones End-of-Course (EOC) Assessment data from Georgia Governor's Office of Student Achievement, and using 2025 Georgia Milestones End-of-Grade (EOG) Assessment data from Georgia Governor's Office of Student Achievement.
Student Growth	3/10	The Student Progress Rating measures whether students at this school are making academic progress over time based on student growth data provided by the Department of Education. Specifically, this rating looks at how much progress individual students have made on state assessments during the past year or more, how this performance aligns with expected progress based on a student growth model established by the state Department of Education, and how this school's growth data compares to other schools in the state. The Growth Rating was created using 2025 Student growth data from Georgia Governor's Office of Student Achievement.

Posted: August 20, 2026

Really, the teachers are great and genuinely enjoy educating the kids. That's if they are allowed to support the kids in the ways they need it. Unless a 504 or an IEP specifically states a support measure, the teachers are simply not allowed to give that extra nudge. Who suffers? The kids. Principal is good at hooking the parents in, but watch out if you're not within the normal standards. Anything outside of the normal and she will try to bully parents to withdraw their kids.

Parents, advocate for your child. You know them better than anyone, including the educators.

Once you carve the path for your child to succeed with the correct support, they will get the best, most engaging, educational experience from these teachers.

Posted: August 20, 2026

Posted: April 13, 2026

I dont know where the bad reviews are coming from. My son attended Hightower from Fall 2020 to Spring 2023. He had a wonderful experience there and the orchestra program was fantastic. He was in gifted classes so maybe he had the best teachers in the school, I dont know, but as parents we were very impressed all 3 years, and the principal was very involved and was outside the front door every morning at dropoff to say hi to the kids. Good vibes all around, no complaints.

Posted: April 13, 2026

Posted: November 21, 2025

Im new to this school this year. I was nervous about that at first but the teachers are really nice and I made some new friends already too. The classes are fun and the kids are cool. Im really happy I go here now. So much better than my old school.

Posted: November 21, 2025

Posted: October 16, 2025

As a parent of a new student at Hightower Trail, I could not be more impressed! From the very first day, the staff and teachers have been welcoming, organized, and genuinely invested in the students success. We just had our first conference, and I left feeling so grateful the teachers clearly know my child well already and are focused on both academic growth and personal development. The communication, care, and positive energy throughout the school are outstanding. Were so happy to be part of this community!

Posted: October 16, 2025

Posted: October 15, 2025

Teachers are either very good or absolutely horrible. No in between. The teachers are untrained and unprofessional and give out pity grades to the shy students while the children who work hard get graded harshly. (Experienced this with the Reading/language arts teachers). Horrible experience overall, fire a lot of these silly and nonsensical reading teachers.

Posted: October 15, 2025

Posted: December 26, 2024

Terrible school. Bullying is out of control. Administration is unresponsive.
Complaints by students are minimized, and families never informed.
If your child is bullied, the administration will rwist it to accuse your child and will leave bullies alone. The administratin suggest to bulkied kids to sit down, keep quiet and try to stay under the radar of the bullies!!! This is so wrong at so many levels. This school administration make bulkied kids feel like they did something wrong. Bullied kids ae unhappy, frustrated, isolated and unprotected! This has to be stopped! I hope that County will do something about that as sooner as better!
Very unfortunate.

Posted: December 26, 2024

Posted: April 30, 2024

Although this school looks nice from the outside is good, but what happens the inside is bad. The most of the teacher's don't care about you and don't help you. The Teachers lack experience and if you get in trouble they don't know how to act and send you to the office. The front office staff is nice, The nurse is helpful at any time and the counseling is good. The Administrators are bad they don't know what to do when people get into fights they tell one and then the other and give both a punishment's even if you stand up to for yourself. Overall this school is very mid.

Posted: April 30, 2024

Posted: April 16, 2024

Dr Polk and her staff do a great job with the safety and learning of our children. Communication is good and how often do you see the principal directing traffic when the police officer is not on site. The school recently hosted a cultural night which was a great success. You and your child will enjoy this school.

Posted: April 16, 2024

Posted: April 11, 2024

This school is horrible. The bullying here is really extreme and there is very little support from staff. 504 plans and IEP's very commonly get ignored and overlooked. Some teachers here are extremely unqualified and unfit for their jobs. Kids with Autism and ADHD are ignored and bullied. Kids and a teacher here have made bad threats to others. This school does not listen to concerns of students, and only cares about the teachers perspective. Certain groups are targeted by teachers and students alike at this place. Kids constantly make extremely offensive comments and remarks. Favoritism is extremely prevalent among most teachers. A good bit of teachers have taught misinformation and refused to change when called out by parents and students. Most days I go home depressed and scared.

Posted: April 11, 2024

Posted: September 1, 2023

One of the worst schools Ive ever seen as far as the whole child. The focus is on drill and skill and robotic like behaviors are rewarded/demanded. Ive never seem anything like it. The kids refer to this school as prison. Its detrimental to learning, and Im fighting the good fight in an effort to make effective change.

Posted: September 1, 2023

Posted: May 3, 2023

If your child has a learning disability, then beware, actually most east cobb schools have the same problem. Better of at private than the constant fighting with the administration to get what your child needs.

Posted: May 3, 2023

Posted: April 24, 2023

This is a great school and the students get excellent support from the teachers.

Posted: April 24, 2023

Great School. Teachers are so supportive and competent. Several clubs and extracurricular activities. Highly recommended.

Posted: April 24, 2023

Posted: May 13, 2022

I am a student and my teacher took off three points off my behavior card for me doing something she lets every one else do with out signing a card with is studying

Posted: April 4, 2022

This school is horrible. The teachers are so strict and give you way to much homework. Do not send your child to this school unless you want them to be miserable.

Posted: August 20, 2018

We have loved this school! Now my son has started in the 6th grade and we couldn't be happier.

Posted: August 20, 2018

Posted: March 4, 2018

My experience at this school has been horrible. Please do not send your child to this school unless youre okay with them being miserable.

Posted: March 4, 2018

Posted: September 1, 2017

I don't have any experience with this issue.

Posted: September 1, 2017

At my daughter's previous (private) school, there was plenty of bullying due to large amounts of un-supervised free time for the kids. The kids at HTMS seem much nicer and down-to-earth than the kids at private school. Also, they don't have a lot of free time and so there aren't many opportunities for things to get out of control.

Posted: September 1, 2017

I have not had much experience with administration. However, my interactions with the front office staff have never been pleasant and I plan things (dr, etc) so that I do not have to sign my daughter out early and deal with the staff.

Posted: September 1, 2017

Sometimes there is too much homework. Interestingly most teachers spoke to how they didn't believe in giving a lot of homework when I met them. We have had to reschedule activities due to increased homework.

Posted: September 1, 2017

My daughter does well in a structured environment where expectations are clear. The teachers do this well.

Posted: September 1, 2017

They are studying interesting topics that include diversity and environmental themes. The kids are given responsibility and held accountable.

Posted: September 1, 2017

So far so good. We are pleased with what we've seen so far and we are cautiously optimistic for our remaining time at this school.

Posted: July 31, 2017

OMG NO! Unless your child is a genius, special needs or you work for Cobb, you education will suffer. I can't believe this school gets such high ratings. Our expriance has been horrible and we know many more parents who agree. We're all afraid they'll take it out on the kids!

Posted: July 31, 2017

They over look it. Kids can be cruel and this school is no exception!

Posted: July 31, 2017

No!!!! Some teachers are really good, but somehow we always end up with the bad ones. It's hard to respect teachers (some) who aren't teaching. It's really telling when you feel your child is REGRESSING!

Posted: July 31, 2017

Administration is horrible. Too focused on STEM. A lot of students aren't being taught.

Posted: July 31, 2017

This is a horrible school. Unless your child is a genius or you work for Cobb, the classes are poorly established. HORRIBLE!!!

Posted: July 31, 2017

They assign way too much homework, such that kids can't do anything else. Some classes are mixed with kids at different levels, so they teach down and if your kid is average, they are not taught.

Posted: July 31, 2017

They don't teach in a lot of these classes. This school is so focused on STEM etc, but some teachers can't teach.

Posted: August 13, 2015

Don't get me wrong: You won't find fault with their academics. They are far above average in that area, though they really do pile on the busywork, too. I'm sure it's a fine experience if you're monied, or don't happen to look just a little different.

However, we aren't monied, and my son didn't blend in. Because of this, he was bullied for his entire stay. He was ostracized, called names, teased, and sometimes mocked in a sexual manner for years. Because he wasn't ever physically hit, most teachers and administrators didn't take it seriously. Sometimes, they even blamed him. There were a rare few that took it seriously, and looked out for him. My biggest regret is that I didn't move out of this school district sooner.

I'm pleased to report that he is happy, healthy, and thriving at his new school. His confidence has returned and he's made many new friends. Also, he's now excelling academically. I guess that's easier to do when you're not made to spend all your energy getting through, huh?

We also never one single time got a letter about any school program's scholarship options. When I asked, folks in the office (who I agree, are mostly not very nice) looked at me like they didn't understand the words I was saying. They do hit you up for money constantly and we began to feel really singled out because we couldn't keep up.

Hightower Trail is a PUBLIC school. Everyone should feel welcome and children that are poor, or different, shouldn't be excluded. Shame on you.

Posted: August 13, 2015

A few were real gems and were fabulous. A few were horrible. Most barely noticed him...or helped him.

Posted: August 13, 2015

My son frequently spent hours every night on homework. Going to another school where he still has time to have a life and cultivate other interests has been a breath of fresh air. He doesn't hate school anymore!

Posted: August 13, 2015

At best: The school doesn't teach children to treat everyone with fairness and respect.
At worst: It tacitly consents to bullying.

Posted: January 7, 2015

My son just started here for 6th grade. We just moved here from upstate NY. I will say that my son seems to enjoy attending the school, but I haven't been all that impressed with what I've seen. The staff has often been rude and unhelpful, and the school is constantly hitting everyone up for money. The school building itself could also use some work. Also, my son has special needs/an IEP (high functioning autism) but for our first IEP meeting, they didn't provide me timely notice of the meeting nor copies of the reports in a timely manner. I only received the assessment reports DURING the meeting and found out about the meeting two days before. THEY ARE REQUIRED TO GIVE YOU ADVANCED NOTICE - my understanding is at least around a week's notice of the meeting. Ultimately the meeitng went OK but I felt like they were trying to force me to agree to things in the reports, but they never even gave me the reports to review ahead of time - and there were many reports (for speech therapy, psychological assessments, and occupational therapy). Overall I am not very impressed, but the teachers seem nice and caring and my son does seem to really enjoy attending school.

Posted: July 30, 2014

Great school!!! Safe, clean and the teachers really care. I can't say enough good things about this school and its staff. My child loved going to school here. Not only did she excel in this environment, it also prepared her to excel in her high school magnet program. Hightower Trail is as good, if not better, than any private school in the area!

Posted: April 30, 2012

Staff is snotty and talks down to parents. Even the paraprofessionals think they know more than my husband and I, and we both have Masters degrees.

#	Name	Type	City	State	Overall Rating	Distance
1	Heritage Farms	Neighborhood/Subdivision	Marietta	GA		4.1 mi
2	Garden Hills	Condominium/Townhouse	Atlanta	GA		13.1 mi

Base	Distance
Dobbins ARB	8.3 mi.
Fort Gillem	28 mi.
Camp Frank D Merrill	46.2 mi.

Hightower Trail Middle School

Marietta, GA 30062

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Hightower Trail Middle School

Marietta, GA 30062

School Ratings

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