The top reported proficiency rate is 65% in English language arts. The lowest is 54% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Tanner Williams Elementary School
Tanner Williams Elementary School serves students from prekindergarten through fifth grade in the rural, unincorporated community of Wilmer, Alabama, about a half-hour drive northwest of Mobile near the Mississippi line. It is part of the Mobile County school district, the county system. The community is low-density, with scattered homes along rural roads, no downtown, and a car required for daily life. Housing values in the area sit below the Alabama statewide level, and the unemployment picture has been stable at the national level. Wilmer was briefly incorporated early in the century but later disincorporated, reverting to unincorporated status, and the area has not seen heavy new development. Families commute into Mobile or eastern Mississippi for work, and the nearest commercial and civic activity is in the town of Semmes or Mobile itself.
The school is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet. Its enrollment is small for the early and elementary grades it covers, and the student body is overwhelmingly white, with very small shares of other racial and ethnic groups. Slightly more than two-thirds of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, a substantial share that indicates most families come from lower-income backgrounds. Data on students with individualized education programs and English learner status was not reported.
State testing results for the 2024-25 school year are available from Alabama’s statewide assessment. In reading, third graders posted a proficiency rate that is above the midpoint among districts in Mobile County, fourth graders were at a similar level, and fifth graders were clearly stronger, reaching into a range that families would consider a solid performance for that grade. In math, third graders were around the midpoint of the district comparison set, fourth graders were lower, and fifth graders were again stronger, well above the district midpoint. Fourth graders also took a science assessment and results there were above the midpoint as well. Taken together, the school’s overall proficiency index across all tested subjects and grades sits notably above the midpoint when ranked against the county’s other districts. Because this is the only year of testing data in the record, no trend line is available to show whether performance is rising or falling.
The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report. Chronic absenteeism information is also absent from the available data. Families zoned to this elementary are assigned to Semmes Middle School and Mary G. Montgomery High School, both of which are located in Semmes rather than within Wilmer itself.
For the district, a search for recent major changes to curriculum, boundaries, or leadership turned up nothing of lasting impact to report.
This is a small rural elementary school with a largely white, lower-income student body, and its academic results in the most recent testing year were generally above the middle of the pack among Mobile County districts, with a particular strength evident in fifth-grade reading and math. A parent considering this school would want to ask about the services available for students who need extra support, since economic disadvantage is common here, and about how the school supports the transition to middle school, which lies in a different community. The setting is quiet, rural, and car-dependent, and the area does not appear to be experiencing rapid growth or change.
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