The top reported proficiency rate is 51% in English language arts. The lowest is 22% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Southern Choctaw Elementary School
Southern Choctaw Elementary School serves students from prekindergarten through sixth grade in Gilbertown, a small rural town in Choctaw County, Alabama. The town sits along State Highway 17 and its local economy is grounded in agriculture, forestry, extractive industries, finance, and construction. The population has been declining, and the area's civic anchors include the Choctaw County Historical Museum and a town park alongside a community college campus. The school operates as a regular public school within the Choctaw County school system, and its setting means a parent is looking at a rural elementary experience with no nearby alternatives within the same district for this grade range.
The school enrolls a student body that is roughly evenly divided between Black students and white students, with a very small share of students identifying as two or more races. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing this school in a high-poverty context. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available, a gap a parent may want to discuss directly with the school to understand what support services are in place.
State testing results from the most recent school year show a pattern that changes noticeably by grade level and subject. In English language arts, third graders met the proficiency benchmark at a rate well above half, fourth graders at roughly half, and fifth graders just below half. Sixth graders came in below half. In math, the picture is steeper. Third graders met proficiency at a rate near half, but fourth graders and fifth graders were substantially lower, and sixth graders were far lower still. Science results, tested in fourth grade, were also low. Taken together, overall proficiency across all tested subjects and grades was below half for English language arts and well below half for math and science. Because the school serves only elementary and early middle grades, there is no graduation rate. The state tests are the only academic performance data available, and with only a single year of results in the data, there is no multi-year trend to show whether these numbers represent a change.
The school draws its students from a small, declining rural community where economic opportunity is concentrated in a few traditional industries. For a parent considering this school, the core question is whether the academic foundation being built in the early grades, especially in math, is strong enough to prepare students for the transition to a separate middle and high school. The elementary grades show some relative strength in early literacy, but math proficiency drops off sharply by sixth grade. A parent would want to understand what interventions and support the school offers for students who are not yet at grade level, particularly in math, and how the school works with families in a high-poverty setting. The lack of data on special education and English learner services means those conversations will need to be initiated directly with the school. Comparisons to other districts in Choctaw County were not possible because there is only one public school district in the county, so there is no local peer group to measure against. The school's performance stands on its own terms, and a parent's best next step is to visit, talk to teachers and the principal, and see how the school addresses the challenges that the test results suggest.
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