The top reported proficiency rate is 61% in English language arts. The lowest is 31% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Weeden Elementary School
Weeden Elementary School is a regular public school in Florence, Alabama, serving prekindergarten through fourth grade. It is part of Florence City Schools, the district that covers the city. The school is one of several elementary options in a community that is the largest city in the Shoals region of northwestern Alabama.
Florence is a city built around a historic downtown commercial district and the University of North Alabama, the state's oldest public university. The economy draws on manufacturing, food processing, agriculture, and a growing tourism sector anchored by annual events such as the W.C. Handy Music Festival and the Alabama Renaissance Faire. Wilson Park downtown serves as a central gathering space, and cultural institutions like the Kennedy-Douglass Center for the Arts and the Rosenbaum House, a Frank Lloyd Wright design, are nearby. The city describes itself as experiencing steady economic growth and business expansion, and housing in the area is relatively affordable when measured against national costs. The district itself had no recent major changes reported in the public information reviewed.
The school’s enrollment is modest for an elementary school. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, a marker of high poverty. The student body is racially and ethnically diverse, with no single group forming a majority. Hispanic and Black students are the two largest groups, followed by White students and a smaller share of multiracial students. Data on students with disabilities and English learners is not available from state reporting, so a parent interested in those supports may want to ask the school directly.
In state testing for the 2024-25 school year, Weeden’s results show a mixed picture. The school’s grade configuration is listed as prekindergarten through fourth, though assessment data also includes a fifth-grade cohort, so a parent may wish to confirm the exact grade range with the school. In reading, proficiency rates in grades three and five are stronger, with the majority of students meeting the bar; grade four reading is lower. In math, proficiency in grades three and four falls near the midpoint of the range, while fifth-grade math is weaker. Science is assessed in grade four, and proficiency there is low, a subject area a parent may want to look into further with the school. Across all tested subjects, the overall proficiency index places Weeden below the midpoint among the county’s districts, in a comparison set that includes two school systems in Lauderdale County.
Because the school serves only early and middle elementary grades, there is no graduation rate to report, and measures like chronic absenteeism are not available in this data. Program offerings beyond the core curriculum are not detailed in the information reviewed.
For a family considering this school, the context to weigh includes a high-poverty, diverse student body; a mixed academic record with some stronger reading results and some weaker spots in math and science; and a setting in a mid-sized city with a university presence, cultural amenities, and a relatively affordable housing market. The lack of published data on special education and English learner supports, and on program offerings, means a visit to the school would be especially valuable.
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