Allentown Elementary School, Semmes AL

Original Research by School Decision on Allentown Elementary School

Allentown Elementary School serves students from prekindergarten through fifth grade in Semmes, a rapidly growing city in western Mobile County. The school is part of the Mobile County Public School System, the countywide district, and sits in a community that retains a rural, agricultural character even as it expands as a suburb of Mobile. Semmes was once known as the nursery capital of the world, and the local economy remains shaped by the trade in ornamental shrubs; the town has been adding residents at a fast clip, and its civic life centers on city hall, several community parks, and a walking trail. For families moving into this corridor, Allentown is the elementary option that feeds into Semmes Middle School and Mary G. Montgomery High School.

Enrollment at Allentown is large for an elementary school serving only PK through fifth grade. The student body is majority white, with a substantial share of Black students and a smaller but visible Hispanic population, along with a modest multiracial group. More than half of the students come from households that qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a signal that the school serves a mix of middle-income and lower-income families. The school is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet.

Academically, Allentown presents a clear pattern. On the state’s Alabama Comprehensive Assessment Program, reading and English language arts results were solid, with proficiency rates that rose across the grades. Math results were softer, with roughly two in five students meeting proficiency benchmarks in third and fourth grade and a slightly better result in fifth grade. Science results, available only for fourth graders, landed near the middle ground of the tested subjects. When the school’s overall proficiency is compared with other districts in Mobile County—the unit used for this comparison—Allentown’s composite score sits above the midpoint, meaning its academic profile is stronger than several of its county peers, though not at the top. Only one year of assessment data is available in the records, so there is no trend to report yet; families will want to watch for multi-year patterns as they emerge.

Because Allentown serves only elementary grades, there is no graduation rate, no chronic absenteeism metric, and no course-access data such as AP or dual enrollment to consider. The school’s civil rights and discipline data were not available in this profile, and no information on special education or English learner populations was reported. A parent seeking details on those student supports would need to follow up directly with the school or the district.

Housing in Semmes is more affordable than the national median, and the area’s mortgage and rent costs are manageable for many working families. The combination of a neighborhood elementary school, a growing town, and reasonable housing prices makes Allentend a practical option for households shopping the western side of Mobile County. The district itself, Mobile County, did not have recent notable changes reported in public sources, so the school’s current offerings and trajectory appear stable from the outside. For a family looking for a solid, large elementary school with stronger reading results and a mixed economic peer group, Allentown fits that description squarely.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 338%

School 38% · District 37% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

Grade 440%

School 40% · District 35% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Grade 546%

School 46% · District 37% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▲ 19 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 372%

School 72% · District 57% · ▲ 15 pts above district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

Grade 458%

School 58% · District 54% · ▲ 5 pts above district

even with state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 570%

School 70% · District 63% · ▲ 7 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 448%

School 48% · District 38% · ▲ 10 pts above district

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

This schoolMobile 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-income66%Higher-income82%16 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income61%Higher-income79%18 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income28%Higher-income55%27 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income36%Higher-income52%16 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income30%Higher-income64%34 pp gap