The top reported proficiency rate is 59% in English language arts. The lowest is 27% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Moundville Elementary School
Moundville Elementary School serves students from prekindergarten through fifth grade and is part of the Hale County school system. The school sits in the small town of Moundville, a community that straddles Hale and Tuscaloosa counties and lies about a fifteen-minute drive south of Tuscaloosa. The town has a rural feel and is part of the Tuscaloosa Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its economy draws on manufacturing, wholesale trade, healthcare, construction, and real estate, and historically the Southern Pickle Company drove local agriculture. The school itself is integrated into the town fabric, located along a main street, rather than set apart on a remote campus.
The student body skews slightly white and Black, with a substantial share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The school is a regular public school and is not a charter or magnet. Enrollment covers the early and elementary grades only, so there is no high school graduation rate to report, and state testing data appears for grades three through five, which is the tested range. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the material provided, and a parent may want to ask the school directly about those supports.
On the state assessments administered in the most recent school year, reading performance was a relative strength across grades. In third grade, a majority of students scored proficient in English language arts, and fifth graders posted a strong showing as well. Fourth-grade reading proficiency was lower but still in a moderate range. Math results were softer across the board. Third-grade math proficiency was below the majority mark, fourth grade was lower, and fifth grade was particularly weak, with only a small share of students meeting the proficiency bar. In science, which is tested in fourth grade, proficiency was also low. Taken together, the pattern suggests that while many students arrive at or develop solid reading skills by fifth grade, math and science achievement is an area the school is likely working to address. Because only one year of testing data was available, there is no trend to examine, so a parent cannot yet see whether these scores represent a stable pattern or a single year's snapshot.
The school is the only elementary school serving the Hale County portion of Moundville, and the county district comparison set includes only one district, so there is no basis to compare Moundville Elementary's performance against nearby peers within the same county. That limitation means a family evaluating the school will want to consider other sources, such as state-level benchmarks or conversations with current families, to get a fuller sense of where the school stands.
The town itself is small and low-density, with an auto-oriented layout and limited street life. The Moundville Archaeological Park, a major civic landmark, sits within the town limits and provides a distinctive cultural resource. Housing values in the area are moderate relative to national benchmarks, and the local housing market has seen modest appreciation. The school serves as a neighborhood anchor in a community where schools and civic functions are woven into the same fabric. For a family looking for a small-town elementary school where reading instruction appears to be a stronger area and where math and science will require closer attention from both school and home, Moundville Elementary is a straightforward option. The district's recent changes were not documented in the available material, so a parent may want to check directly with the Hale County board for any updates on programming or facilities.
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