The top reported proficiency rate is 41% in English language arts. The lowest is 6% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Jonesboro Elementary School
Jonesboro Elementary School serves students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in the Bessemer City district, a system independent of the larger Jefferson County school network. The school sits in Bessemer, a mid-sized city southwest of Birmingham that was once a steelmaking hub and has since worked to diversify its economy, with employers such as an Amazon fulfillment center, Medical West Hospital, and manufacturing plants. The city’s population has declined in recent decades, and the overall built environment is car-dependent, spread across a wide area with a downtown anchored by the historic county courthouse and a few long-running restaurants like The Bright Star.
The student body at Jonesboro is diverse. A substantial majority of students are Black, and a large share are Hispanic, with small numbers of white students and students of two or more races. A very high proportion of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a marker of the economic circumstances many families face. Housing in the area is well below both the state and national benchmarks for home values, and rents are modest, making this a relatively affordable part of Jefferson County for families.
State testing data from the most recent year provides a picture of where student performance stands. In reading, just over a third of third graders met the proficiency bar, a similar share of fourth graders did, and about half of fifth graders did. In math, proficiency rates were lower. A small share of third graders were proficient, a very small share of fourth graders, and a larger but still modest share of fifth graders. Science results, available only for fourth grade, showed a very small share of students reaching proficiency. Overall, the school’s combined proficiency index sits below the midpoint when compared with other districts across Jefferson County, meaning that in this broader context the academic results are on the lower end. The data covers only one test administration, so there is no trend line to draw yet; a family may want to ask the school how these results compare with prior years or what steps are underway to improve.
Enrollment is spread fairly evenly across the elementary grades, with pre-kindergarten also offered. The school is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet. Information on special education and English learner populations was not available in the data provided, nor was discipline, staffing, chronic absenteeism, or course access. A parent interested in those areas would need to contact the school directly.
The district brief turned up no recent major changes such as new construction, curriculum overhauls, or boundary adjustments that would be of lasting parent-relevant interest. That may simply mean the district has been in a period of stability on those fronts, but it is worth noting that no information on the district’s strategic direction was readily found.
Jonesboro Elementary sits in a community with a strong sense of local identity and a set of civic anchors including the airport, a state park, and a historic courthouse, but also one where poverty rates are elevated and population has been shrinking. For a family, the school offers an affordable housing market relative to the broader region and a pre-K through fifth grade setting in a city with its own independent school system. The academic proficiency numbers suggest that the school is working from a challenging baseline, and a parent considering Jonesboro would likely want to have a conversation about how the school supports students who are below grade level and what interventions are in place.
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