The top reported proficiency rate is 39% in English language arts. The lowest is 18% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Ridgecrest Elementary School
Ridgecrest Elementary School serves students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in Huntsville, Alabama, as part of Huntsville City Schools. The school sits in a city that has become one of the fastest-growing in the country, driven by a technology-focused economy anchored by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, Redstone Arsenal, and Cummings Research Park, the second-largest research park in the nation. Major employers in aerospace, defense, and advanced manufacturing shape the local job market, and the city has seen substantial population growth through recent annexations. Housing values in the area surrounding the school are modest relative to state and national benchmarks, and rents are below the national median, making the neighborhood more affordable than many parts of the broader Huntsville metro.
Ridgecrest enrolls a student body that is majority Hispanic, with a substantial Black population and smaller shares of White, Asian, and multiracial students. A large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, reflecting a community with lower household incomes than the district average. The school is a regular public elementary school and is not a charter or magnet; it draws its students from the surrounding Southwest Huntsville neighborhoods.
State assessment results from the 2024-25 school year show a pattern of declining proficiency as students move through the grades. In math, roughly two-fifths of third graders scored proficient, but by fourth grade that share dropped to about one-fifth, and by fifth grade it fell to about one in ten. In English language arts, proficiency was higher: around two-fifths of third graders met the bar, just over one-third of fourth graders, and again about two-fifths of fifth graders. Science results, tested only in fourth grade, show about one in six students proficient. Compared with other districts in Madison County, Ridgecrest’s overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades falls in the bottom quarter, a position that parents considering the school should weigh alongside the community and program context.
Because the school serves only elementary grades, there is no graduation rate to report, and the school does not offer high-school-level programs such as Advanced Placement, career pathways, or dual credit. The available data did not include information on chronic absenteeism, discipline rates, or staffing ratios, so a family may want to discuss those topics directly with the school.
On the district level, Huntsville City Schools moved to a balanced calendar starting in the 2023-24 school year, pushing the first day of school into late July or early August and redistributing breaks throughout the year. This change affects summer planning and childcare schedules for all families in the district, including those at Ridgecrest.
Ridgecrest Elementary presents a picture of a high-poverty school in a rapidly growing city with a strong economic base, but with academic results that trail most other elementary schools in the county. The school may fit families who value a neighborhood setting close to the city’s core and are comfortable engaging with the school about how it supports students in a challenging economic context. For those focused primarily on absolute academic outcomes, other options in Huntsville may show stronger results, though the data here does not capture what services or instructional supports Ridgecrest offers beyond the core curriculum.
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