Florence B Mathis Elementary, Foley AL

Original Research by School Decision on Florence B Mathis Elementary

Florence B Mathis Elementary is a regular public school in Foley, Alabama, serving students from prekindergarten through sixth grade. It is part of the Baldwin County school system, a district that spans a fast-growing region along the Gulf Coast. The school is large for an elementary campus, with an enrollment that places it among the bigger feeder schools in the area.

The student body is racially and ethnically diverse. White students and Hispanic students each make up a substantial share, with Black students and students identifying as two or more races also represented in notable numbers. A large majority of students come from households with low income, as measured by free or reduced-price meal eligibility. This economic context matters because it often correlates with additional needs for academic support, interventions, and wrap-around services.

State testing results from the 2024-25 school year are available for math, English language arts, and science. This is the only year of data provided, so no trend is visible. In math, proficiency rates fall across the grade levels, with third grade the highest of the four tested grades and fifth grade substantially lower. The school’s overall math proficiency across tested grades is well below the midpoint when compared with other schools in Baldwin County. In English language arts, third graders achieve a strong proficiency rate, but the rate drops notably in fourth grade, then recovers to roughly half of students meeting the bar in fifth and sixth grades. Science is assessed only in fourth grade, where about a third of students are proficient. Taken together, the school’s combined proficiency across all tested subjects and grades sits in the bottom quartile among the county’s three districts.

These are early warning signals a parent would want to explore further with the school. The math results, in particular, suggest that many students are not meeting grade-level expectations. The ELA picture is mixed: a bright spot in third grade followed by a sharp decline that may indicate a transition challenge or a gap in curriculum alignment. Science performance is modest but not out of step with what is often seen in tested elementary grades. No data was available on chronic absenteeism, discipline, or staffing, so the full picture of the learning environment is incomplete.

Foley itself is a rapidly growing city driven by tourism and retail. It is home to a large outlet mall and the OWA resort and amusement park, which together draw millions of visitors each year. The local economy is heavily service-oriented. The population has expanded significantly over the past two decades, and residential development continues along the major commercial corridors. Housing values in the area are above the state average, and rents have been rising modestly. The combination of a high-poverty school attendance zone and a booming local economy is not unusual for coastal communities where service-sector jobs do not always pay enough to lift families into the middle class.

No recent district-level changes of lasting impact to families were found in publicly available sources, so this profile rests on the school’s own performance and demographic data. For a parent weighing this school, the academic results are the central consideration. The school serves a large, economically diverse student population in a community that is adding residents and infrastructure. The academic challenges are real and visible in the state results, particularly in mathematics. A parent would be wise to ask what interventions and supports are in place for students who are not yet on grade level, and how the school is addressing the dip in reading proficiency between third and fourth grade.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 334%

School 34% · District 49% · ▼ 15 pts below district

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

Grade 424%

School 24% · District 46% · ▼ 22 pts below district

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▼ 22 pts below county median

Grade 510%

School 10% · District 41% · ▼ 30 pts below district

▼ 23 pts below state median · ▼ 27 pts below county median

Grade 621%

School 21% · District 44% · ▼ 23 pts below district

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 371%

School 71% · District 72% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 442%

School 42% · District 68% · ▼ 26 pts below district

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 29 pts below county median

Grade 550%

School 50% · District 74% · ▼ 24 pts below district

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 25 pts below county median

Grade 651%

School 51% · District 70% · ▼ 19 pts below district

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

Science

Grade 432%

School 32% · District 53% · ▼ 20 pts below district

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

This schoolBaldwin County, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income69%Higher-income74%5 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income36%Higher-income51%15 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income45%Higher-income63%18 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income44%Higher-income65%21 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income30%Higher-income41%12 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income21%Higher-income29%8 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income6%Higher-income22%16 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income13%Higher-income39%26 pp gap