The top reported proficiency rate is 33% in English language arts. The lowest is 14% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Hemphill Elementary School
Hemphill Elementary School is a regular public school in Birmingham, Alabama, operated by Birmingham City Schools. It serves pre-kindergarten through fifth grade, placing it among the city’s many neighborhood-based elementary campuses.
State testing results from the 2024-2025 school year show that overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades places the school below the midpoint among districts in Jefferson County. In math, third-grade students scored closest to the half-proficient mark, while fourth and fifth graders performed at lower levels. In English language arts, the pattern is similar: the third-grade cohort reached a rate near the middle, fourth grade held around that same range, and fifth grade dropped notably. Science results, which are tested only in fourth grade, also came in low. A single year of assessment data is available, so no trend can yet be drawn. Because the school serves only elementary grades, there is no graduation rate to report, and chronic absenteeism data was not available in the provided sources.
The student body is relatively small for a school of this grade band. An overwhelming majority of students come from low-income households, as measured by free and reduced-price meal eligibility. The racial composition is predominantly Black, with a substantial share of Hispanic students; the number of white students is negligible, and there is a small multiracial population. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not included in the records reviewed.
Birmingham is a mid-sized city that functions as a major regional economic, medical, and educational hub. Its economy has shifted from its historic steel and heavy industry base toward services, healthcare, banking, and higher education. Major employers include the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Regions Financial, and Vulcan Materials. The city’s population has declined gradually in recent years, and it lost its status as Alabama’s largest city after the 2020 census, though the broader metropolitan area remains the largest in the state. Housing values in the zip code serving Hemphill are well below both state and national medians, making the area relatively affordable by those measures. Rents are also modest. The downtown area has seen revitalization through redevelopment of historic buildings and major events, but the city faces ongoing competition from suburbs.
Birmingham City Schools, the parent district, is in the middle of a consolidation plan approved in 2023, driven by declining enrollment and aging infrastructure. Several schools are being merged and buildings repurposed through 2027. The district opened a Career Tech Academy in 2023 that expands high school pathways in healthcare, IT, and advanced manufacturing; this does not directly affect an elementary school, but it signals a broader district shift toward career readiness. The Alabama Literacy Act’s third-grade retention provision took effect in the 2023-2024 school year, requiring students who do not meet reading proficiency to be retained. Hemphill’s third-grade reading scores, while not the lowest in the building, still show that a majority of students fall below the proficient threshold, a parent may want to ask the school about its literacy interventions and reading coach support.
For a family considering Hemphill, the picture is of a small, high-poverty elementary school in a large urban district undergoing structural change. Academic proficiency is low across tested subjects, and the trajectory within the school shows declining performance from third to fifth grade, particularly in math and reading. The surrounding community offers relatively affordable housing and access to Birmingham’s institutional and cultural resources, but the city’s population contraction and the district’s consolidation plans introduce some uncertainty about long-term school assignments and facility conditions. The school’s own programs and supports beyond what is reported here are not detailed in the available data, so a direct visit or conversation with the principal would be useful for a fuller sense of what a child’s daily experience would be.
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