Holly Pond Elementary School, Holly Pond AL

Original Research by School Decision on Holly Pond Elementary School

Holly Pond Elementary School is a regular public school in Holly Pond, a small rural town in eastern Cullman County. The school serves students from prekindergarten through eighth grade on a shared campus that also houses Holly Pond Middle and High Schools, placing the schools at the center of the community. After eighth grade, students move to the adjacent high school. The school is part of the Cullman County school system.

On state assessments administered in the 2024-25 school year, Holly Pond Elementary showed a mixed academic picture that parents should examine grade by grade. In English language arts, a majority of students across most tested grades met or exceeded state standards, with particularly strong results in the middle grades. Mathematics results were more uneven. Proficiency was stronger in the lower and middle grades but dropped considerably in the upper grades, especially in eighth grade, where the share of students reaching proficiency was very small. Science results, available for fourth and eighth grades, fell in a moderate range, with a larger share of fourth graders meeting standards than eighth graders. Overall, when the school’s performance on all tested subjects and grades is averaged together, it lands in the bottom quartile relative to districts in Cullman County. Because state testing data covers only one year for this school, there is no trend information to show whether these results are improving or declining.

The student body is predominantly white, with a small Hispanic population and a smaller share of students identifying as two or more races. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that the school serves a community with significant economic need. No data was available on the percentage of students with disabilities or English learners, so parents should ask the school directly about those supports.

The town of Holly Pond is rural and low-density, with a modest population that has grown slowly in recent years. The built environment is centered on the highway intersection, with limited commercial activity and little walkability beyond the immediate town center. The Lions Club Park hosts an annual Founders Day event, and the school campus itself functions as a civic anchor. Housing in the area is relatively affordable compared to national benchmarks, and the local housing market has seen modest price increases.

The school itself has limited publicly reported data on programming, staffing, discipline, or attendance. No course access information was available, and there was no indication of career or dual-credit pathways, which is expected given the PK-8 grade band. Families who want to know about arts, extracurriculars, special education services, or class sizes will need to inquire directly with the school or district.

Holly Pond Elementary is a small-town school that serves a community with real economic challenges. Its academic performance is strongest in English language arts through the early and middle grades, while mathematics becomes a clear area of difficulty by eighth grade. A parent considering this school would want to understand how the school supports students who struggle in math, especially as they approach the transition to high school, and what resources are available for the large share of students from low-income households. The school’s rural setting and single-campus arrangement mean that children can move through elementary and middle school in a familiar environment, but the limited public data on programs and support services leaves some important questions unanswered.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 333%

School 33% · District 44% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

Grade 434%

School 34% · District 39% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Grade 539%

School 39% · District 43% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 648%

School 48% · District 37% · ▲ 11 pts above district

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

Grade 722%

School 22% · District 24% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 89%

School 9% · District 30% · ▼ 21 pts below district

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 368%

School 68% · District 68% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 463%

School 63% · District 63%

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 575%

School 75% · District 75%

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 672%

School 72% · District 62% · ▲ 10 pts above district

▲ 17 pts above state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

Grade 759%

School 59% · District 58% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 872%

School 72% · District 64% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Science

Grade 447%

School 47% · District 48% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 840%

School 40% · District 48% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

This schoolCullman County, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 6Lower-income66%Higher-income79%13 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income25%Higher-income47%22 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income41%Higher-income55%14 pp gap