The reported proficiency rate for English language arts is 43%.
Original Research by School Decision on Raymond L Young Elementary School
Raymond L Young Elementary School serves a narrow band of the earliest grades in the Talladega City district, enrolling children from pre-kindergarten through kindergarten only. This means the school is an entry point for formal education, focused on foundational readiness rather than the academic performance measures that start in grade three. State testing data that is available for the school is thin and predominantly suppressed, which is not unusual for a school where the oldest students tested are just beginning their academic careers. The one result that was not suppressed came from the fourth-grade English language arts assessment the year this data was collected, and it showed a proficiency rate that placed the school above the midpoint when compared to districts across Talladega County. No graduation rate applies because the school does not serve high school grades, and chronic absenteeism data was not available.
The student body of roughly that size draws from the city of Talladega. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and the largest racial group by a significant margin is Black students, followed by white students, with smaller shares of students who identify as two or more races and Hispanic students. No data was reported for the share of students with disabilities or English learners, so a parent would want to ask the school about those supports directly.
Talladega itself is a county seat with a historic courthouse square, a mix of residential neighborhoods and industrial employers, and several major institutions that shape the community. The Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind operates four campuses in the city, and Talladega College, a private historically Black liberal arts college, is also a local anchor. The economy draws on agriculture, timber, manufacturing, and tourism tied to the Talladega Superspeedway. Housing values in the area are well below state and national benchmarks, and rents are modest, making this a comparatively affordable market for a family looking to buy or rent. The city has seen modest population growth in recent decades, and while no major new housing developments were identified in available reports, the area has invested in parks and playgrounds.
The school building sits in a setting where civic life and education are distributed across separate campuses rather than concentrated in one part of town. Talladega City Schools operates three elementary schools including this one, a middle school, and a high school. A search for recent district-level changes or strategic priorities found little of lasting impact to report, so this narrative does not include those elements. A parent evaluating Raymond L Young should treat it as what it is: a very early-grade entry point in a modest-sized district with a single reported testing data point that sits in the middle of the pack locally. The school's role is to get children started, not to produce a competitive test profile, and the thin academic record reflects that grade span more than anything else.
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