New Hope Elementary School, New Hope AL

Original Research by School Decision on New Hope Elementary School

NewHope Elementary School serves students from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade as a regular public school in the Madison County district. The school sits in the small, predominantly residential town of New Hope, a rural community in southeastern Madison County where most residents commute to the greater Huntsville area for work. The town has a compact Main Street corridor with city hall and local businesses, but the overall character is low-density and auto-dependent. The school and the adjoining high school are part of the town center rather than on a remote campus, and the town itself faces infrastructure challenges including floodplain management and sewer system upgrades. For families considering the area, the housing market shows home values that are broadly in line with the state average and below the national figure, with renting being a comparatively more affordable option than buying in the current mortgage rate environment.

On state assessments administered in the 2024-25 school year, New Hope Elementary posted results that varied notably by grade level and subject. In English language arts, the school showed a strong pattern: the third-grade group reached a high level of proficiency, and the sixth-grade group performed at a similar high level, while fourth and fifth grades also showed solid proficiency though somewhat lower. In mathematics, the picture was more uneven. Third graders posted a strong proficiency rate, and sixth graders also performed at a moderately solid level, but fourth and fifth graders had noticeably lower proficiency rates, with the fifth-grade group showing the weakest performance of any tested grade in the school. In science, which is tested only at fourth grade, the result fell below the levels seen in ELA for that same grade. Across all tested subjects and grades combined, the school’s overall proficiency index places it above the midpoint when compared with other districts in Madison County. Because only one year of state test data is available, there is no basis for assessing trends over time.

The school enrolls a student body that is predominantly white, with a substantial American Indian or Alaska Native population, and smaller shares of Black, Hispanic, Asian, and multiracial students. About half of the students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a meaningful share of families with lower incomes. No data was reported for students with disabilities or English learners, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about those programs and supports.

New Hope Elementary is a neighborhood school in a small town that offers a clear academic pathway through the elementary years before students move on to New Hope High School. The ELA results at the third- and sixth-grade levels stand out as a strength, while the math results in the middle grades and the science result are softer points that a family may wish to explore further with the school. The school’s setting in rural Madison County means that many families commute to Huntsville, but the town itself has limited commercial amenities and infrastructure needs. For a family seeking a small, community-anchored elementary school where the academic picture is strongest in reading and writing, particularly in the early and upper elementary grades, this school warrants a closer look.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 364%

School 64% · District 53% · ▲ 11 pts above district

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

Grade 447%

School 47% · District 54% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▲ 10 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 541%

School 41% · District 49% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▲ 8 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 654%

School 54% · District 42% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▲ 25 pts above state median · ▲ 15 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 374%

School 74% · District 74%

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

Grade 462%

School 62% · District 70% · ▼ 8 pts below district

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

Grade 564%

School 64% · District 74% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 677%

School 77% · District 66% · ▲ 11 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 447%

School 47% · District 54% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

This schoolMadison 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-income58%Higher-income71%13 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income78%Higher-income77%1 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income45%Higher-income50%5 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income31%Higher-income54%24 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income45%Higher-income61%17 pp gap