Wilson Elementary School, Florence AL

Original Research by School Decision on Wilson Elementary School

Wilson Elementary serves students from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade in a rural pocket of Lauderdale County, on the outskirts of Florence. The school is part of the Lauderdale County district, which covers a wide geographic area outside the Florence city limits. The building itself sits along a state highway, surrounded by the kind of open country that defines much of northwestern Alabama. This is a regular public school, not a magnet or charter, and it draws from a community that is overwhelmingly white and that qualifies for free or reduced-price meals at a rate high enough to signal real economic strain among many families.

On the state assessments administered in the 2024-25 school year, Wilson’s results varied by subject and grade. In English language arts, the share of students meeting the proficiency bar was solid across grades three through six, with the strongest performance in third grade. In math, the picture was more uneven. Fourth graders and third graders scored well into the proficient range, but fifth-grade math proficiency fell off sharply, and sixth grade was in the middle. Science results, available only for fourth grade, landed around the midpoint of the local range. When the school’s overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades is compared to the handful of other districts in Lauderdale County, Wilson lands in the top quartile. That is a meaningful distinction in this small, largely rural county, but it is not a measure against state or national benchmarks. Only one year of data was available, so there is no trend to examine yet. The district itself has not reported any recent major changes that would alter the school’s trajectory, so families are looking at a stable if not static institution.

The school’s academic profile exists alongside a student body that presents some typical challenges of a high-poverty elementary. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals. Enrollment is moderate for a school covering these grades, and class sections appear to be of similar size from kindergarten through sixth grade. Information about students with disabilities and English learners was not reported in the available data, a gap that parents who need those supports may want to explore directly with the school. Likewise, no program offerings—such as gifted, arts, or career-oriented classes—were listed in the data, though this kind of enrichment often exists informally at the building level.

Florence itself is the largest city in the Shoals region and the economic hub of northwestern Alabama. Its economy rests on manufacturing, food processing, the University of North Alabama, and a growing tourism and cultural sector anchored by festivals and historic sites. The university sits near downtown, giving the city a blended feel of college town and small regional center. Wilson Elementary, however, is on the rural edge, about a short drive from downtown. The housing market in the area around the school has seen modest appreciation over the past year, and home values are below the national median, which is consistent with this part of the state. The broader metro area has grown modestly.

For a family considering Wilson Elementary, the key facts are these. The school’s English instruction is a clear strength, and its math results are a mix that bears watching—particularly the drop in fifth grade. Despite serving a population with significant economic need, the school performs above the middle of the county’s districts on overall proficiency. That is a respectable position, but it is a local one. The setting is rural, the student body is not diverse, and data on special services and programs is thin. A parent who values strong foundational reading and a small-district feel may find this a good fit; a parent who wants wide program offerings or detailed accountability data will want to ask more questions at the school.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 355%

School 55% · District 59% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▲ 12 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 454%

School 54% · District 44% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 528%

School 28% · District 43% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Grade 646%

School 46% · District 35% · ▲ 11 pts above district

▲ 17 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 373%

School 73% · District 75% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▲ 8 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 460%

School 60% · District 60%

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 572%

School 72% · District 73% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 663%

School 63% · District 61% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Science

Grade 444%

School 44% · District 41% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

This schoolLauderdale 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 5Lower-income72%Higher-income71%1 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income53%Higher-income77%24 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income34%Higher-income65%31 pp gap