Calera Intermediate School, Calera AL

Original Research by School Decision on Calera Intermediate School

Calera Intermediate School serves grades three through five as a regular public school within the Shelby County School District. The school sits in Calera, a city that has grown rapidly as residential and industrial development pushes south from Birmingham. Calera combines a historic downtown with an expanding suburban footprint; its economy rests on lime production, manufacturing, and distribution. The city is auto-oriented, with schools set apart from the downtown core, and offers several large municipal parks, a railroad museum, and a farmers market. Housing costs in the area are around the state average, and the broader Shelby County economy is stable.

The school enrolls a sizable number of students for an intermediate school that covers only three grade levels. The student body is racially diverse, with white students and Black students each making up a substantial share, and Hispanic students and multiracial students also represented. More than three-fifths of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, indicating a majority come from low-income households. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about those programs and supports.

The state testing results come from a single school year, the 2024–25 administration of the Alabama ACAP. In English language arts, proficiency rates vary by grade but generally land in a range where about half to just over three-fifths of students meet the standard. Math performance is lower: across the three tested grades, roughly two-fifths or fewer students are proficient, with one grade showing a notably lower rate. Science, tested only in grade four, shows about a third of students reaching proficiency. Because only one year of data is available, trends cannot be assessed, and comparisons to prior performance are not possible.

When placed against other school districts within Shelby County, Calera Intermediate School’s overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades is below the midpoint. This is a meaningful soft spot: the school’s composite academic results trail most neighboring districts. A parent interested in this school may want to discuss with staff how math and science instruction are structured and what interventions or enrichment are in place to raise proficiency.

No graduation rate is reported because the school does not serve high school grades. No chronic absenteeism data, discipline data, or staffing ratios were provided. The school reports a regular school designation and is not a charter or magnet. A list of specific programs was also absent, so families should verify offerings such as gifted education, arts, or extracurricular activities directly with the school.

Overall, Calera Intermediate School serves a growing, economically diverse community in a city that is expanding both residentially and industrially. Its academic performance is mixed, with reading and writing showing more strength than mathematics and science, and its results sit toward the lower end of the Shelby County district comparison. The school’s size and student composition reflect the broader community, and the available evidence suggests that a family considering this school would benefit from a close look at the support systems for math and science learning.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 340%

School 40% · District 54% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Grade 430%

School 30% · District 51% · ▼ 21 pts below district

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▼ 21 pts below county median

Grade 532%

School 32% · District 55% · ▼ 24 pts below district

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▼ 15 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 359%

School 59% · District 75% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

Grade 449%

School 49% · District 68% · ▼ 18 pts below district

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

Grade 561%

School 61% · District 80% · ▼ 19 pts below district

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

Science

Grade 435%

School 35% · District 53% · ▼ 18 pts below district

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

This schoolShelby 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-income53%Higher-income71%18 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income42%Higher-income66%24 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income57%Higher-income72%16 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income36%Higher-income51%15 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income25%Higher-income43%18 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income26%Higher-income46%20 pp gap