The top reported proficiency rate is 38% in English language arts. The lowest is 9% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Barbour County Intermediate School
Barbour County Intermediate School is a regular public school in Louisville, Alabama, serving grades two through six. The school enrolls a small student body, and every student qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, indicating a community with high economic need. The student population is predominantly Black, with a smaller Hispanic share and a still smaller white share.
The school sits in a town that has experienced long-term demographic decline. Louisville is a small rural community with a workforce concentrated in manufacturing and public administration, and a median household income that is low. The town’s population has dropped over the past two decades, and available sources describe no major new residential or commercial development. This context is relevant for a parent considering a move to the area: the housing market is likely limited, and the local economy does not appear to be adding jobs or residents.
Academically, the state testing results from the 2024-25 school year show low proficiency rates across the board, and a parent should understand this plainly. In English language arts, roughly two-fifths of third graders scored proficient, a share that dropped in fourth grade to just over a quarter, then rose to nearly half of fifth graders, before settling at just under two-fifths in sixth grade. In math, the numbers are lower: roughly a third of third graders were proficient, then a very small share in fourth grade, a modest share in fifth, and a single-digit share in sixth. In science, tested in grade four, only a small fraction of students scored proficient. The school’s overall proficiency index, a combined measure across tested subjects and grades, places it in the top quartile relative to districts in Barbour County, but that is a very narrow comparison set of only two districts, so the distinction is less meaningful than it might be in a larger county.
Because the school serves only elementary and intermediate grades, there is no graduation rate to report. The school’s website and district information were not available in the provided data, so a parent would want to contact the school directly for details on curriculum, academic support programs, and any enrichment offerings. There was no data on staffing, discipline, chronic absenteeism, or course access, all of which a parent may wish to explore with the school.
The district brief found little to report on recent changes, so a parent should not expect any major new programs or facility upgrades at the district level based on publicly available information.
This school fits a family that is already in the Louisville area or considering a move to a small, rural, economically struggling town and wants a neighborhood school for elementary and middle-grades children. The academic picture is one of very low overall achievement, and a parent heavily focused on high test scores will want to look closely at the available results and inquire about remediation and intervention programs. The peer environment is small, and the student body is economically homogeneous. For a family whose priority is a close community school in a quiet, low-cost rural setting, this could be the right fit; for one seeking strong academic outcomes or a growing, more affluent area, it likely is not.
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