Forsyth County Schools Changing Demographics

From South Asia to the American South

It's a taboo topic on social media and among the Chamber of Commerce crowd, but it's an undeniable fact that mass migration from South Asia, primarily India, over the last couple of decades is rapidly changing the makeup and culture of Forsyth County. You see it in our neighborhoods, at the grocery store, at our parks, and on the roadways. But there's no place more obvious to witness the changing culture and demographics of Forsyth County than in our schools.

Let's take a look at what the data reveals about the change in our school population over the last 10 years.

Population change in Forsyth County schools

From 2015-16 to 2024-25, the Asian share rose by 20%, while the White share fell by more than 23% across all Forsyth County schools. All other demographic shares remained relatively flat.

High school population trend

Among Forsyth County high schools, the Asian share rose by more than 20%, while the White share fell by more than 26% from 2015-16 to 2024-25.

Middle school population trend

Among Forsyth County middle schools, the Asian share rose by more than 22%, while the White share fell by almost 26% from 2015-16 to 2024-25.

Elementary school population trend

Among Forsyth County elementary schools, the Asian share rose by almost 19%, while the White share fell by almost 21% from 2015-16 to 2024-25.

The shift is astounding

• The biggest change was obviously the Asian increase alongside the White decline.
• High schools moved from 9.46% to 30.14% Asian.
• Middle schools moved from 14.72% to 37.37% Asian.
• Elementary schools moved from 18.97% to 37.81% Asian.
• The largest Asian-share gains among Forsyth County schools were at Mashburn Elementary (+39 points), Sawnee Elementary (+38), Midway Elementary (+36), then Lambert High School, South Forsyth High School, Lakeside Middle School, and Piney Grove Middle School (+33 each).

From minority to majority

• In 2015-2016 there were just 3 schools where the Asian population was the largest group.
• By the 2024-2025 school year, 21 out of 42 total schools were at least a relative majority Asian.
• In half of all Forsyth County Schools, the Asian population is the largest group.
• In 12 schools, Asian students make up an absolute majority, with a population share of 50% or more.

School-by-school view

Let's take a look at the population trends over the last decade at each individual school.

The table below shows the latest demographic percentages for every Forsyth County public school, sorted by Asian share from highest to lowest.

High schools

Forsyth County high schools include Alliance Academy, Denmark, East Forsyth, Forsyth Central, Lambert, North Forsyth, South Forsyth, and West Forsyth.

Alliance Academy for Innovation

Denmark High School

East Forsyth High School

Forsyth Central High School

Lambert High School

North Forsyth High School

South Forsyth High School

West Forsyth High School

Middle schools

Forsyth County middle schools include DeSana, Hendricks, Lakeside, Liberty, Little Mill, North Forsyth, Otwell, Piney Grove, Riverwatch, South Forsyth, and Vickery Creek.

DeSana Middle School

Hendricks Middle School

Lakeside Middle School

Liberty Middle School

Little Mill Middle School

North Forsyth Middle School

Otwell Middle School

Piney Grove Middle School

Riverwatch Middle School

South Forsyth Middle School

Vickery Creek Middle School

Elementary schools

Forsyth County elementary schools include Big Creek, Brandywine, Brookwood, Chattahoochee, Chestatee, Coal Mountain, Cumming, Daves Creek, Haw Creek, Johns Creek, Kelly Mill, Mashburn, Matt, Midway, New Hope, Poole's Mill, Sawnee, Settles Bridge, Sharon, Shiloh Point, Silver City, Vickery Creek, and Whitlow.

Big Creek Elementary School

Brandywine Elementary School

Brookwood Elementary

Chattahoochee Elementary School

Chestatee Elementary

Coal Mountain Elementary School

Cumming Elementary School

Daves Creek Elementary School

Haw Creek Elementary

Johns Creek Elementary

Kelly Mill Elementary

Mashburn Elementary School

Matt Elementary School

Midway Elementary School

New Hope Elementary School

Poole's Mill Elementary

Sawnee Elementary School

Settles Bridge Elementary School

Sharon Elementary School

Shiloh Point Elementary

Silver City Elementary School

Vickery Creek Elementary School

George W. Whitlow Elementary

Will Forsyth Stay Forsyth?

You feel the impact of the population change in our community, but when you see the actual numbers, it hits even harder. The Asian population share has increased by at least 20%, while the native White population share has declined by 23% or more, and those trends are not slowing down. Just looking at the facts, it's impossible to deny that we are living through a period of replacement migration in Forsyth County.

This kind of change reaches deeper than data, enrollment charts, and percentages. When you see the institutions your ancestors built for their posterity being exploited by citizens of foreign nations, it hurts your soul. For those who care about Forsyth County as a home and not just a global economic zone, we have to be asking questions about how we got here and the impact this has on our society. The Forsyth County we were given is not the Forsyth County we are currently passing on to our children. But our story is not over.

What can we do?

Most of the South Asian migrants in Forsyth County are either here on temporary work visas or initially came to the U.S. on temporary work visas. So the biggest factor contributing to the mass Asian migration is the federal H-1B visa program. The H-1B program has been exploited by India, with over 70% of all temporary work visas going to Indian nationals. It impacts not only our school demographics but also significantly harms our young American workforce. Educate yourself on this program and its exploitation, then reach out to your federal representatives and demand their help to end the H-1B, OPT, and other abused visa programs.

H-1B education resources

• Center for Immigration Studies
• Economic Policy Institute
• Lighthouse: H-1B Visa Fraud Explained

Notes on the data

This analysis uses the Georgia Governor's Office of Student Achievement downloadable data page, specifically the report card material on student and school demographics. The figures here track the state-published race-share percentages, not subgroup headcounts.

This post does not include Forsyth Virtual Academy or Future Elementary School #5, both of which appear in the raw GOSA extract but were not in the provided public school list for this project.

Some campuses are newer and therefore do not have a full decade of data in the state files, so their charts begin with the first available state-data year for that campus. DeSana begins in 2016-17, Denmark and Alliance begin in 2018-19, East Forsyth High and Hendricks Middle begin in 2021-22, and New Hope plus Poole's Mill begin in 2022-23.

The aggregate charts are weighted by fall enrollment from the paired GOSA grade-level file, so larger campuses count more than smaller ones. Brandywine Elementary School's 2016-17 enrollment cell is blank in that grade export, so the aggregate uses a backcast estimate of 1,001 students based on the change from 2017-18 (1,094) to 2018-19 (1,187). The raw GOSA source row is still blank; only the weighted aggregate and chart data use the estimate.

TFS means the state suppressed the value because there were too few students in that subgroup to publish a percentage. In the charts, those points appear as missing rather than zero.