The top reported proficiency rate is 33% in English language arts. The lowest is 12% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Tarrant Intermediate School
Tarrant Intermediate School is a regular public school in the Tarrant City district, serving grades three through six. It sits in the small industrial city of Tarrant, which borders Birmingham’s north side and has a manufacturing heritage rooted in heavy industry, including the ABC Coke plant and the former National Cast Iron Pipe Company. The city’s population has declined steadily over several decades, and its built environment is oriented around highways and rail lines rather than a traditional walkable downtown. Housing costs in the area are well below national and state benchmarks, and rents are a modest share of median household income, reflecting the working-class, industrial character of the community.
The school’s academic performance, based on Alabama state assessments from the 2024–2025 school year, shows proficiency rates that fall below the midpoint among districts in Jefferson County in an overall proficiency index. In reading and English language arts, about a third of students in each grade level met proficiency standards. In mathematics, the rates were lower, declining from roughly a fifth of third graders to about that range in fourth grade, then to a smaller share in fifth grade, and a still smaller share in sixth grade. Science results, available only for fourth graders, were in a similar low range. The data available for this school covers only one year, so no trend is observable. The overall picture is that a minority of students are meeting state benchmarks in core subjects, and math results in particular are below the school’s own ELA performance.
Enrollment at Tarrant Intermediate is concentrated in grades three and six, with somewhat smaller groups in grades four and five. The student body is almost evenly split between Black students and Hispanic students, with very small numbers of white students, multiracial students, Native American students, and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students. A very large share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that the school serves a predominantly low-income population. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the source material.
The district brief notes that all three schools in Tarrant City—Tarrant Elementary, Tarrant Intermediate, and Tarrant High—are designated as Comprehensive Support and Improvement schools under Alabama’s accountability system. This designation triggers state oversight and intervention requirements, and it carries lasting implications for families evaluating the district. No program offerings, discipline data, course access information, or staffing details were provided in the data for this school.
A parent looking at Tarrant Intermediate should consider the school’s academic results in the context of the district’s CSI status and the high level of economic disadvantage among its students. The community’s housing costs are low, and the area’s industrial profile and population decline suggest a stable but not growing local economy. For a family considering this school, the strongest available evidence points to a school where academic achievement is a challenging area, with proficiency rates that are modest in ELA and weak in math and science. This may be a school where additional academic support and school-level interventions are a focus, and a parent would want to look into what specific efforts the school has underway and what resources the district provides for students who are below grade level. The school’s intermediate-only grade band means that students will move on to Tarrant Middle or High School after sixth grade, and the district-level CSI designation applies across all school levels.
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