GCPS Insider — Gwinnett County Public Schools parent news, Georgia

Sweetwater Middle School

Zoned GCPS middle school on Cruse Road in Lawrenceville — seats are assigned by home address in the Sweetwater zone of the Berkmar cluster.

  • Grades: 6–8
  • How to get in: Zoned by home address
  • Cluster: Berkmar
  • Area: Lawrenceville (central Gwinnett)
  • Student mix: 41.2 / 100

Sweetwater Middle is a zoned middle school in the Berkmar cluster; students go on to Berkmar High School. Sweetwater runs a STEAM Academy that students apply to, and is on GCPS’s list of DLI Spanish continuation middle schools. Visit and ask questions before treating any ranking or reputation claim as a fit guarantee.

3500 Cruse Road, Lawrenceville, GA 30044

Official starting points

  • School site: sweetwaterms.gcpsk12.org
  • Zoning: GCPS Berkmar cluster page and GCPS permissive transfers
  • GCPS school profile: gcpsk12.org › School Profiles › Sweetwater Middle 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

  • STEAM Academy (application cohort) — the school’s STEAM pages describe an academy that families apply to with an application and a teacher recommendation form. GaDOE lists Sweetwater in its “Launching” tier (seeking certification, not yet certified).
  • Dual Language Immersion (DLI) Spanish continuation — GCPS lists this school among the middle schools that continue its elementary DLI Spanish program; it is a cohort program for students coming from a DLI elementary path, not a schoolwide model (GCPS DLI news page).
  • Connections listed in the GCPS profile: JLC, PE, journalism, marketing, visual art, piano, orchestra, chorus, band, music technology, introduction to engineering, introduction to computer science and Spanish.
  • Gifted (PROBE) — GCPS middle schools offer gifted classes in math, science, social studies and language arts for students who qualify, placed by area of strength (GCPS PROBE page). Ask which subjects are offered here.

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

Principal

Dr. Ivelisse Hernandez

School details

Address
3500 Cruse Road, Lawrenceville, GA 30044
  • School hours: The school’s bell schedule page lists operating hours of 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., student arrival beginning at 8:40 a.m., and a 9:18 a.m. tardy bell. The GCPS directory lists 9:20 a.m. to 4:05 p.m. Confirm current student dismissal and bell times with Sweetwater.
  • Source: School site; GCPS directory and school profile. Hours: school site (School Hours and Bell Schedule page) and GCPS directory

How families get in

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

  • Feeder elementary schools (GCPS Berkmar cluster page): Bethesda Elementary School, Corley Elementary School and Kanoheda Elementary School. Confirm your address with GCPS before buying or renting for a school.
  • Next step: students go on to Berkmar High School.
  • 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 Sweetwater zone (Bethesda, Corley or Kanoheda elementary feeders).
  • Your student wants to apply for a STEAM cohort.
  • Your student is continuing DLI Spanish from Bethesda Elementary.

Think twice when

  • You expect STEAM Academy for every student — it is an application program.
  • 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 ≈ 75% · Black ≈ 16% · Asian ≈ 7% · Two or more ≈ 3% · hidden by GaDOE (small counts): White, plus other very small groups
  • Total enrollment about 1,450 students (GCPS directory, rounded)
  • Student mix score: 41.2 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. Several groups are hidden in the GaDOE report for this school, so treat the score as approximate.

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

Cruse Road 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 many STEAM Academy seats are there per grade, and how are applicants chosen?
  2. 2.How are students placed in gifted (PROBE), accelerated or advanced classes?
  3. 3.Which Connections (elective) classes are available in each grade, and how are they assigned?
  4. 4.How do new students find clubs, teams and a friend group in the first weeks?
  5. 5.Which courses can 8th graders take for high school credit?

What to do next

  1. 1.Confirm your address is zoned for Sweetwater Middle 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 student.
  4. 4.Register through GCPS Online Registration.