The top reported proficiency rate is 40% in English language arts. The lowest is 11% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Saks Elementary School
Saks Elementary School serves students from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade and sits within the Calhoun County school district, on the outskirts of Anniston in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. Anniston itself has a complex history. Founded as a private iron company town, it has seen its population decline over the decades and is now described as one of the most affordable places to live in the United States. The city has a downtown anchored by the county courthouse and a Main Street Alabama designation for revitalization efforts, and its broader landscape includes the decommissioned Fort McClellan as well as the Chief Ladiga Trail. A family considering Saks will find a small-town feel on the edge of a mid-sized city with a notable industrial and military legacy.
The school itself is a standard public elementary and middle school, not a charter or magnet school. Its enrollment is modest for a school spanning this many grades. The student body is roughly split between white and Black students, with a smaller but measurable presence of Hispanic students and students identifying as two or more races. A very substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, which places the school in a high-poverty context compared with national averages. State data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available, so a parent with a child in those populations would want to ask the school about its specific supports and staffing.
State assessment results from the Alabama ACAP tests, taken in the 2024-25 school year, show that math proficiency is a clear area of difficulty. Across grades three through six, the share of students meeting the state’s proficiency bar was low, with the lowest point in sixth grade. Reading and language arts scores were stronger but still uneven. In third, fourth, and fifth grades, roughly half of students or just under half met the proficiency standard, a picture that is close to the middle of the road. But in sixth grade, that figure dropped noticeably. Science results, available only for fourth grade, showed about three in ten students proficient. Overall, when combining all tested subjects and grades, the school’s proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile relative to other districts in Calhoun County. The district itself had five entities in this comparison, and the gap between Saks and the county’s midpoint was wide. A parent looking at these results will want to consider the academic starting point and ask the school directly about its plans for improvement, particularly in mathematics and for the middle-grade transition year.
Because Saks serves only through sixth grade, there is no graduation rate to report. No chronic absenteeism data was available in the sources used here, and the school’s disciplinary record and course access information were also absent. A family would want to ask about these during a visit. The school does not appear to publish a list of special programs or enrichment offerings in the data examined, so the core academic program and any extracurriculars would need to be explored directly with the staff.
The housing context matters here. Home values in the area around the school are well below both the Alabama state median and the national median, reinforcing the picture of affordability. A family moving to the area will find that the cost of buying a home is relatively low, which is the principal pull of the community. The Anniston area’s unemployment rate has been tracking near the national average, and the broader economic anchors include the Anniston Army Depot and a sprawling federal training center on the old Fort McClellan grounds.
The Calhoun County district as a whole did not show publicly reported recent changes or strategic initiatives that would shift a family’s day-to-day experience, so the school’s own leadership and classroom conditions are the main variables. Saks Elementary is a neighborhood school in a community with limited resources and test results that reflect that challenge. For a family who values affordability and a small-school setting, it is a plausible option, but the academic data is a reason to investigate further with the school about its teaching approaches and any targeted interventions, especially in math and for students entering the upper elementary and middle school grades.
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