The top reported proficiency rate is 41% in English language arts. The lowest is 11% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Greensboro Elementary School
Greensboro Elementary School serves students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in the town of Greensboro, Alabama, the county seat of Hale County. The school is part of the Hale County public school system and operates as a regular public elementary school in a small rural community located in Alabama’s Black Belt region. The town itself has experienced a long-term population decline, and its economy, once centered on cotton agriculture, now relies on educational services, health care, aquaculture, and some manufacturing. The downtown area, with its historic nineteenth-century buildings, remains the civic core.
On state assessments from the 2024-25 school year, math proficiency rates declined notably from third grade to fourth and fifth grades. In third grade, roughly three out of ten students met the state’s proficiency bar, but that share dropped to about one in seven in fourth grade and about one in eight in fifth grade. English language arts results were higher across all three tested grades, with roughly four out of ten students proficient in third grade, about one in three in fourth grade, and again about four out of ten in fifth grade. Science is tested only in fourth grade, where roughly one in nine students scored proficient. These results reflect a single year of testing, so no trend is available. A parent considering this school may want to discuss how the school is addressing the math performance dip in the upper elementary grades and what academic supports are in place.
The student body is predominantly African American, making up the vast majority of enrollment. The remaining students are white, multiracial, Hispanic, and Asian, each in very small numbers. A substantial share of students—more than three out of four—qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that the school serves a community with significant economic need. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available; interested families would need to ask the school directly about those supports.
Greensboro itself is a car-oriented town with state highways running through it. The housing market in the area is modest, with typical home values well below both the state and national benchmarks. That reflects the broader economic conditions of a rural county that has seen limited growth. The town was hit by a tornado in early 2023 that caused heavy damage in the southern part of the city, an event that may still be shaping local conditions. No major new housing or development projects were identified in available sources, and the district brief turned up no recent parent-relevant changes to the school system.
No information was available on discipline, staffing levels, attendance rates, or chronic absenteeism. The school’s status for Title I and magnet programming was also not provided. The data for comparing Greensboro Elementary to other districts in Hale County was too sparse to generate meaningful benchmarks, so the school is best understood on its own terms rather than against local peers.
Because this is an elementary school only, there is no graduation rate to report. The academic focus is on building foundational skills through fifth grade, after which students would move on to middle school in the same district. Families evaluating this school should weigh its small-town rural setting, the economic realities of the community, and the academic results that show stronger performance in reading than in math and science. The school’s role as an early-grades anchor in a slowly shrinking town gives it a central place for local families, but the limited data on student support programs and staffing means that direct conversations with the school are essential to get a full picture.
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