The top reported proficiency rate is 56% in English language arts. The lowest is 25% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Heard Elementary School
Heard Elementary School is a regular public school in Dothan, Alabama, serving kindergarten through sixth grade. It is part of the Dothan City school district. The school enrolls roughly a few hundred students, placing it at a moderate size for an elementary school serving seven grade levels. The student body is diverse: about half the students identify as Black, a third as White, with smaller shares of Hispanic, multiracial, and Asian students. A very high proportion of students come from low-income households, indicating the school likely receives federal Title I support, though that status was not reported in the available data.
State testing results from the Alabama ACAP assessment for the 2024-25 school year are available for math, English language arts, and science. In math, the share of students meeting state proficiency benchmarks was below that of many peers across all tested grades. In English language arts, a clear majority of students met the bar in third and fifth grade, while fourth grade fell closer to the midpoint. Science results for fourth grade were low. Taken together, the school’s overall proficiency index across tested subjects and grades places it above the midpoint when compared to other schools in Houston County. That overall position is lifted by the stronger ELA performance, while math and science remain areas where a parent may want to look into this further with the school.
Dothan, where Heard Elementary is located, is a regional commercial and transportation hub for southeastern Alabama, southwest Georgia, and the Florida Panhandle. It is known as the Peanut Capital of the World due to the extensive peanut processing in the city. The economy is diversified across healthcare, poultry processing, and manufacturing, with plants for Sony, Michelin, and General Electric, as well as the nearby Fort Rucker military installation. Dothan covers a large, flat area and is car-dependent, with a low population density typical of a sprawling Sun Belt city. A downtown core holds the Wiregrass Museum of Art and hosts the National Peanut Festival parade, but schools and higher education campuses like Troy University Dothan and Wallace Community College are located outside the downtown area. The housing market is relatively affordable compared to national benchmarks, with home values and rents that are below state averages. The city has grown steadily through the 20th and early 21st centuries, supported by a pro-business tax structure and affordable housing, though no specific major new housing developments were reported.
The Dothan City school district, which operates Heard Elementary, did not have any recent parent-relevant changes such as referendums, curriculum shifts, or property tax changes that surfaced in publicly reported information. No information was available on the school’s program offerings—such as art, music, foreign language, or enrichment activities—so a parent interested in those aspects should contact the school directly. Discipline data, staffing ratios, and chronic absenteeism rates were also not reported, which limits a full picture of the school’s environment.
For families considering Heard Elementary, the strongest signal from the data is that English language arts achievement is a relative strength, while math and science performance are weaker points. The student body is economically diverse, with a large majority qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, a factor that can correlate with additional challenges but also with targeted supports. The school’s size and grade span (KG through 6) mean that students move on to a middle school after sixth grade, and those feeder patterns were not detailed in the available data. The broader Dothan community offers a relatively low cost of housing and a diversified job market, though families should expect a car-dependent lifestyle and a spread-out city layout. No recent district-level changes were found, so the school’s current academic approach appears stable based on what is publicly reported.
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