The top reported proficiency rate is 60% in English language arts. The lowest is 24% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Highland Elementary School
Highland Elementary School is a regular public school in Gadsden, Alabama, serving students from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade. It is part of the Etowah County School District, not the Gadsden City district, which is a separate system. The school is located on Tabor Road, on the western edge of the city in a part of Etowah County.
The student body is small for a school of this grade span, and the population is predominantly white, with a modest share of students who identify as two or more races. The school has very small numbers of Black, Hispanic, and American Indian or Alaska Native students. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that many families in the attendance zone face economic challenges. The school did not provide data on the number of students with individualized education plans or English learners in the available data.
Highland Elementary’s academic picture is mixed and varies noticeably by grade and subject. On the state’s Alabama Comprehensive Assessment Program, the strongest area is English language arts in the upper elementary grades, where a solid majority of fifth graders met the proficiency bar. Fourth grade reading was lower, with under half proficient, while third and sixth graders fell closer to the middle. Looking across all grades combined, English language arts emerges as the school’s stronger subject overall. Math performance is a more difficult landscape. Proficiency rates decline sharply as students move up in grade. The school’s youngest tested students, third graders, showed the highest math proficiency, but by sixth grade the share of students meeting the bar was very low. Science results are available only for fourth grade, where less than half of students scored proficient. The district as a whole has a history of operating with a limited tax base, as voters narrowly rejected a property tax increase in 2022 that would have funded teacher pay and facility upgrades. On the other hand, the district has invested in career and technical education, expanding pathways in welding, healthcare, and information technology at its county career center in 2023, though these programs serve high school students and may not directly affect Highland’s elementary-age population.
Compared to other school districts in Etowah County, Highland sits near the middle for overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades, slightly above the midpoint among the three districts in the county. This suggests that while it faces clear challenges, particularly in math, it is not an outlier within this local context.
Gadsden itself is a mid-sized city with a history tied to heavy industry, particularly Goodyear and Republic Steel, though that manufacturing base has eroded over time. The city has worked to redevelop its downtown along Broad Street, which is described as a walkable area with art museums, while the broader city remains car-dependent outside that core. The population has been declining slowly. The area’s housing values are well below state and national benchmarks, which may be a factor for families considering the area. Major employers are now in healthcare, education, and food processing rather than the mills of the past.
For a family considering Highland Elementary, the immediate picture is of a school with a strong reading program in the upper elementary grades but with math performance that weakens considerably as students get older, a pattern a parent may want to discuss with the school principal about how the math curriculum or interventions are structured. The student body is small and economically diverse in terms of income, but not very diverse racially. The school is part of a county district that has been operating on a constrained budget, which may influence class sizes, facilities, and teacher retention, though no specific staffing data was available to confirm this. The broader Gadsden area offers a low-cost housing market and a downtown with cultural attractions, but the local economy continues to navigate the long-term decline of its industrial base. There is no state testing or graduation data beyond elementary grades, as the school does not serve high school students.
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