GCPS Insider — Gwinnett County Public Schools parent news, Georgia

McKendree Elementary School

Zoned GCPS elementary school in Lawrenceville — seats are assigned by home address in the McKendree attendance zone of the Collins Hill cluster.

  • Grades: Pre-K–5
  • How to get in: Zoned by home address
  • Cluster: Collins Hill
  • Area: Lawrenceville
  • Student mix: 69.7 / 100

McKendree Elementary is a zoned elementary school in the Collins Hill cluster; students go on to Creekland Middle School, then Collins Hill High School. Specials include a Guided Play Space for Pre-K to grade 2 and a social-emotional learning special for grades 3–5, according to the GCPS school profile. Visit and ask questions before treating any ranking or reputation claim as a fit guarantee.

1600 Riverside Parkway, Lawrenceville, GA 30043

Official starting points

  • School site: mckendreees.gcpsk12.org
  • Zoning: GCPS Collins Hill cluster page and GCPS permissive transfers
  • GCPS school profile: gcpsk12.org › School Profiles › McKendree Elementary School
  • State data: GaDOE CCRPI at ccrpi.gadoe.org and GOSA Georgia School Grades Report

GCPS district:678-301-6000 (main)678-301-7085 (Planning, attendance boundaries)Find My School

What this school is

  • Specials — a Guided Play Space (Pre-K–2nd grade) and a Social Emotional Learning special (grades 3–5) (GCPS school profile).
  • Clubs — Step Team, Band, Robotics, Soccer, Basketball, Chorus, Reader’s Rally, Drama, Mindfulness, Visual Arts, Compost Connectors and Running Club.
  • Special education — the school site posts a special education programs page.
  • Gifted (FOCUS) — GCPS elementary gifted services for students who qualify; each school chooses the settings (resource, cluster, advanced content) (GCPS FOCUS page). Ask how FOCUS is delivered here.

Test scores and state ratings are not reproduced here — check GaDOE CCRPI and GOSA directly. Rankings: Not publicly available in this guide.

Principal

Courtney Bernardo

School details

Address
1600 Riverside Parkway, Lawrenceville, GA 30043
  • School hours: 7:45 AM – 2:45 PM (school-published hours). GCPS directory lists 8:15 AM – 2:45 PM. Confirm the current student bell schedule directly with McKendree.
  • Source: School site; GCPS directory and school profile. Hours: school site and GCPS directory; the school lists car-rider drop off 7:45–8:15 AM.

How families get in

Type: Zoned GCPS elementary school — assigned by home address (not a lottery or application school).

  • Next step (GCPS Collins Hill cluster page): Creekland Middle School. Confirm your address with GCPS before buying or renting for a school.
  • Pre-K: the GCPS directory lists Pre-K at this school; enrollment is separate from K–5 zoning — ask the school or GCPS Early Learning.
  • Living elsewhere in Gwinnett: a permissive transfer is possible only if the school is on GCPS’s current transfer list. Approvals are capacity-based and must be renewed each year — see GCPS permissive transfers.
  • Admit rate: Not applicable (zoned school).

Never treat social media dates as official.

Who it tends to fit

A good match when

  • You live in the McKendree zone and want your child to move on to Creekland Middle School with neighborhood classmates.
  • You want structured play and SEL built into the specials.
  • Your child is interested in band or step team.

Think twice when

  • You live outside the zone and need a guaranteed transfer seat.

Students

Race/ethnicity mix (GaDOE FTE enrollment count; approximate percentages, not a ranking):

  • Hispanic ≈ 38% · Black ≈ 37% · White ≈ 11% · Asian ≈ 8% · Two or more ≈ 6% · other groups hidden (very small)
  • Total enrollment about 1,050 students (GCPS directory, rounded)
  • Student mix score: 69.7 out of 100 (Gwinnett County overall: 72.9) — the chance that two randomly chosen students are from different racial/ethnic groups; 0 = all one group, higher = more mixed. This guide’s own calculation, 100 × (1 − Σ group share²), from GaDOE enrollment counts — not an official GCPS or state rating, and it does not reflect income or education.

Source: Georgia Department of Education, FTE Enrollment by Race/Ethnicity and Gender. Percentages are rounded and may not total 100. For official Georgia accountability, use GaDOE CCRPI and the GOSA School Grades Report.

Location and daily life

Riverside Parkway in Lawrenceville. GCPS buses serve students who live in the attendance zone; stop and time details are listed in ParentVUE (GCPS Transportation). Families attending through a permissive transfer are responsible for arranging transportation. GCPS does not provide regular transportation for permissive transfers.

Compare before you commit

Questions to ask on a tour

  1. 1.How is gifted (FOCUS) service delivered here — resource classes, cluster classes or advanced content?
  2. 2.Which specials (art, music, PE, STEM, computer science, languages) does each grade rotate through?
  3. 3.How does the school help a child who needs extra support in reading or math?
  4. 4.Which before- and after-school care options operate on campus or offer pickup from the school?
  5. 5.How does the school communicate with families (ParentVUE, ParentSquare, newsletters)?

What to do next

  1. 1.Confirm your address is zoned for McKendree Elementary School using the GCPS cluster pages.
  2. 2.Check GaDOE CCRPI and the GOSA School Grades Report for official school data.
  3. 3.Tour the school and ask about the programs that matter to your child.
  4. 4.Register through GCPS Online Registration.