Clay Elementary School, Clay AL - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Clay Elementary School

Clay Elementary School serves students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade in the suburban community of Clay, a primarily residential city in northeastern Jefferson County within the Birmingham metro area. The school is a regular public school within the Jefferson County school system, a larger district where a search for recent changes turned up little of lasting impact for parents to track.

The student body at Clay Elementary is racially and economically diverse. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, marking the school as serving a community with a mix of income levels. The largest racial or ethnic group among students is Black, followed by White, with smaller shares of students who are Hispanic, two or more races, Asian, and American Indian or Alaska Native. Data on the share of students with individualized education programs and English learners was not available in the provided information; a parent who wants a full picture of special education and language support services may wish to ask the school directly.

On state assessments from the 2024-25 school year, performance varied noticeably by subject. In English language arts, results were mixed across the grades tested. In math, the share of students scoring proficient was lower across third, fourth, and fifth grades. In fourth-grade science, the proficiency rate was lower still. Overall, when combining all tested subjects and grades into a single proficiency index, Clay Elementary’s results placed above the midpoint relative to other districts in Jefferson County. This is a single year of data, so it does not yet show a trend; only one year’s results were available for analysis.

The suburbs around Birmingham have seen considerable growth in recent decades, and Clay itself grew rapidly after incorporation before slowing more recently. The town is car-dependent, with single-family subdivisions and some commercial strips along main roads. There is no traditional downtown core; schools and civic buildings are spread through the suburban fabric. City parks offer walking trails and athletic fields, and Cosby Lake provides a recreational anchor. The area’s housing market reflects a homeowner-oriented community, with a high homeownership rate.

Because Clay Elementary only serves through fifth grade, there is no graduation rate to report. The school does not offer the advanced high school coursework or career pathways that would apply at the secondary level. For parents considering this school, the academic picture is one where English language arts reaches a moderate level of proficiency while math and science lag notably behind, a pattern that warrants a conversation with the school about instructional supports and how the school approaches those subjects. The school’s size is typical for an elementary school in a suburban setting, and the community context is that of a stable, car-dependent suburb where families often choose homes based on school attendance zones within the Jefferson County system.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 325%

School 25% · District 31% · ▼ 6 pts below district

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

Grade 425%

School 25% · District 31% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 525%

School 25% · District 28% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▼ 8 pts below state median · even with county median

English language arts

Grade 353%

School 53% · District 53%

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 449%

School 49% · District 53% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 569%

School 69% · District 59% · ▲ 10 pts above district

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

Science

Grade 422%

School 22% · District 33% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

This schoolJefferson County, 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 3Lower-income47%Higher-income63%16 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income53%Higher-income90%37 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income22%Higher-income30%8 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income18%Higher-income35%17 pp gap