Marietta High's Class of 2026 averaged 22.4 on the ACT, up 0.2 points, while Georgia's average fell to 20.9. Science hit a record 23.7, reading a record 24.1.
Marietta High School’s Class of 2026 raised its average ACT composite score to 22.4, up 0.2 points from last year. Georgia’s average fell 0.5 points to 20.9 over the same period.
Marietta City Schools published the results Friday in a district news release. The national average also fell, to 19.2, the district said.
It is the seventh year in a row Marietta has beaten both the state and national averages. The 1.5-point gap over Georgia matches the school’s widest margin in five years.
Records in science and reading
The biggest gain came in science. Students averaged 23.7, up 1.3 points and the school’s highest science score on record. That is 2.5 points above the state average and 4.3 points above the national one.
Reading also set a record. The average rose 0.5 points to 24.1.
| ACT section | Marietta High, Class of 2026 | Change from 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Reading | 24.1 | +0.5 (record) |
| Science | 23.7 | +1.3 (record) |
| English | 21.9 | rose |
| Math | 21.0 | -0.1 |
| Composite | 22.4 | +0.2 |
Source: Marietta City Schools release, Oct. 16, 2026. The district did not give the size of the English gain.
Math was the one section that slipped, by 0.1 points. It is still above Georgia’s math average of 20.5.
College-readiness benchmarks
ACT sets a benchmark score in each subject. A student who meets it has about a 50% chance of earning a B or higher in the matching first-year college course, the district said.
More Marietta graduates met the benchmark than Georgia students did in all four subjects:
- English: 73%, against 60% statewide
- Reading: 65%, against 51%
- Science: 62%, against 41%
- Math: 43%, against 40%
The widest gap is in science, at 21 percentage points. The narrowest is math, at three.
The third result this fall
The ACT figures follow two other results for the same class. Its four-year graduation rate reached a record 95.1%, and its average SAT score was 1,092, against 1,031 for Georgia and 1,011 nationally. We covered both in our report on the graduation rate and SAT.
Superintendent Grant Rivera said the pattern mattered more than any single score.
“As a parent, I want to know my child is leaving high school prepared for what comes next,” Rivera said. “When we see a record graduation rate alongside continued growth on the SAT and ACT, that gives families confidence in the work happening in our classrooms.”
The release did not say how many students took the ACT.
What it means for you
- If you have a student at Marietta High, the school’s profile page has its state report card, contact numbers and calendar. The district also keeps an SAT and ACT resources page on its website.
- If your student is weighing the two tests, Marietta’s Class of 2026 averaged above the state on both the SAT and the ACT.
- If you are moving to Marietta, Marietta City Schools is a separate district from the Cobb County School District. Our public schools page explains which addresses each one serves.
- If you are comparing schools, these are the district’s own figures, drawn from ACT results. A district average says nothing about any one student’s score.
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