The top reported proficiency rate is 42% in English language arts. The lowest is 15% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Aliceville Elementary School
Aliceville Elementary School serves children from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade in the town of Aliceville, a small rural city in Pickens County near the Mississippi border. This is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet school, and it is the only elementary school in the community. As a PK-06 building, the school does not have a graduation rate to report because it does not serve high school grades, and the data does not include information on its English learner or special education populations, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about those supports.
The student body is almost entirely Black or African American, with a very small number of White, Hispanic, and Asian students enrolled. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that the school serves a low-income community. Enrollment is steady across the elementary grades, with a larger kindergarten class than the later grades, which is typical for small-town schools where families begin their children at the neighborhood school.
State testing results from the most recent year available show a mixed picture. In English language arts, third graders met the proficiency benchmark at a rate that was the school's strongest across all tested subjects and grades, with about half of those students reaching the bar. Performance in fourth, fifth, and sixth grade reading was lower, with a notable drop from third to fourth grade. In mathematics, proficiency was low across all tested grades, and the same was true for fourth-grade science. These are soft spots that a parent should look into further with the school, as consistent low proficiency in math across grade levels suggests the school may be working to strengthen instruction in that area. Because only one year of data was available for this school, it is not possible to say whether these results represent a trend or a single snapshot.
Aliceville itself is a quiet, predominantly residential town with a historic downtown along Broad Street. The local economy is built around agriculture, forestry, and a federal women's prison that is a major employer. Housing values in the area are low relative to state and national benchmarks. The town has a handful of seasonal festivals and a museum, but the day-to-day street life is limited, as is typical for a rural county seat. No major new housing developments or population growth have been reported in recent years, and the housing vacancy rate is notable. Parents commuting to Tuscaloosa for work would face a long drive.
The school is part of the Pickens County district, and the district brief found no recent changes of lasting impact to report. County-level comparisons were not possible because the school is the only entity of its type in Pickens County for which comparable data was available, so the neighbor comparison tool could not place it against peers. That means a parent assessing this school cannot use the usual local benchmark and may want to look at schools in adjacent counties for a fuller picture.
This is a small, high-poverty elementary school in a rural town with a stable but aging economy. Its academic results are uneven, with reading in the early grades being a relative bright spot and math performance across all grades being a clear area where the school likely needs to focus. Families considering Aliceville Elementary should feel comfortable asking the principal what the school is doing to improve math proficiency and how they support students who come in below grade level. For families living in Aliceville or the surrounding rural area, this is the neighborhood elementary school, and its small size and community setting are what a parent would expect from a rural Alabama public school.
See more original research from School Decision →