Thompson Elementary School, Gadsden AL

Original Research by School Decision on Thompson Elementary School

Thompson Elementary School, in Gadsden, Alabama, is a regular public school serving students in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. It belongs to the Gadsden City school district and enrolls a student body that is a mix of backgrounds. The largest group represents Black students, followed by White students and Hispanic students. A substantial share of families qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.

Gadsden itself is a mid-sized city that was once a center of heavy industry. The loss of many manufacturing jobs over the decades has led to economic transition, and the population has seen a gradual decline. The city government describes Gadsden as a growing place with new ideas and frames itself as ready for industrial growth. The downtown area along Broad Street has a cluster of businesses and attractions like the Gadsden Museum of Art. Healthcare and food processing are now dominant employment sectors. The Coosa River runs through the city, and Noccalula Falls Park is a major civic anchor. Housing values in the area are below the national median, which may make it more attainable for some families. The district brief turned up no major recent changes a parent would need to know about.

On state testing from the most recent year, the school’s results show a clear pattern. In English language arts, roughly half of students in the tested grades met the proficiency standard. In science, about a quarter of fourth graders were proficient. In math, the proficiency rates were strikingly low across grades three through five. When the school’s overall performance is placed next to other districts in Etowah County, Thompson sits in the bottom quartile on a combined proficiency index. This is a soft spot. A parent may want to look into this further with the school, particularly around the math instruction, and ask what supports are in place.

Because the school serves only elementary grades, there are no high school graduation metrics to consider. The data also did not include information on chronic absenteeism, discipline, or staffing ratios. No details on specific programs were available. The school is not a charter school, and its magnet status was not listed.

For a family, Thompson Elementary provides an early childhood and elementary pathway in a small-enrollment school setting within the Gadsden City system. The broader context is a city working through economic transition, with an older industrial history and a current push toward new business and growth. The school’s reading results point to a substantial portion of students reaching grade-level expectations, though the math and science numbers are considerably lower. Any parent considering this school would want to understand what interventions and academic supports the school offers, particularly in math, and what the school’s approach is for students who are not yet at the proficient level.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 313%

School 13% · District 41% · ▼ 28 pts below district

▼ 30 pts below state median · ▼ 38 pts below county median

Grade 47%

School 7% · District 33% · ▼ 26 pts below district

▼ 31 pts below state median · ▼ 32 pts below county median

Grade 59%

School 9% · District 26% · ▼ 17 pts below district

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 22 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 340%

School 40% · District 53% · ▼ 13 pts below district

▼ 25 pts below state median · ▼ 25 pts below county median

Grade 452%

School 52% · District 52%

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

Grade 553%

School 53% · District 57% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 18 pts below county median

Science

Grade 424%

School 24% · District 29% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

This schoolGadsden City, 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 4Lower-income54%Higher-income0%54 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income10%Higher-income0%10 pp gap