The top reported proficiency rate is 39% in English language arts. The lowest is 11% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Norwood Elementary School
Norwood Elementary School serves prekindergarten through fifth grade in the Birmingham City district. It is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet school. Located on Norwood Boulevard in Birmingham, the school sits within the city’s historic Norwood neighborhood, a residential area north of the downtown core.
The school enrolls a small student body for an elementary building, a size that allows for more intimate class groupings across grades. The student composition is predominantly Black, with a Hispanic population representing a smaller but notable share and very few white students. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a measure of the economic circumstances many families in the community face. The share of students in special education or English learner programs was not reported in available data, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about those supports.
Academically, Norwood Elementary’s state testing results on the Alabama ACAP show a mixed picture that shifts by grade and subject. Third-grade students reached proficiency in both math and English language arts at rates that were the strongest within the school, falling in the range of about half of students. Fourth graders saw a sharp drop, with proficiency in English language arts and math falling below thirty percent. Fifth-grade proficiency recovered somewhat in English language arts but remained under forty percent, while math proficiency stayed in the low twenties. Science results, tested only in fourth grade, were the school’s lowest area, with proficiency in the range of about one in ten students. Overall, Norwood’s proficiency index across all tested grades and subjects places it above the midpoint among districts in Jefferson County, though this comparison reflects a wide range of outcomes across the county, where the highest-performing districts sit well above the typical level. A family should note that these results come from a single year of data, so trends are not yet available to see whether the school is improving or declining year over year.
Birmingham as a whole is a mid-sized city and a major regional hub for healthcare, finance, and higher education. The city’s population has been gradually declining, and it lost its status as Alabama’s largest city to Huntsville after the 2020 census, though the broader metropolitan area remains the state’s largest. The Birmingham City district has been navigating a period of transition, notably with a school consolidation plan approved in 2023 that merges several schools and repurposes buildings as part of a response to declining enrollment and aging facilities. This plan directly affects Norwood Elementary and the other schools in the district, so families should be aware that building assignments and school configurations may shift through 2027. The district also opened a new Career Tech Academy in 2023, though that expansion is focused on high school offerings and does not directly affect Norwood’s elementary program.
In the surrounding housing market, home values in the area are low relative to national benchmarks and have seen a modest recent decline. Rents are moderate by national standards, and the price-to-income ratio suggests that homeownership is comparatively accessible for the metro area, though this affordability must be weighed against the economic challenges reflected in the student population’s high rate of free and reduced-price lunch eligibility.
For a family considering Norwood Elementary, the school offers a small, neighborhood-based setting within a city that has major institutional and cultural resources. The academic results point to a need for parents to be attentive to how their child is performing, particularly after third grade, and to understand what literacy and math interventions the school provides. The district’s ongoing consolidation and facility changes may affect the school’s future, so it is worth asking the school or district directly about what building or boundary adjustments are anticipated. Special education and English learner services were not accounted for in the data reviewed here, so a parent should inquire about those programs directly to get a full sense of student supports.
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