The top reported proficiency rate is 42% in English language arts. The lowest is 25% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Crestmont Elementary School
Crestmont Elementary is a regular public school in Northport, Alabama, serving children from prekindergarten through fourth grade. It is part of the Tuscaloosa County school system, which means that after fourth grade students move on to a middle and high school within the same county district, not a standalone Northport district. The school itself sits in a city that has grown rapidly over the past decade, a place where a historic downtown with shops and galleries meets suburban-style residential neighborhoods. Many Northport residents commute to Tuscaloosa for work, and the area is seeing new development including a water park project that has drawn some local debate.
The student body at Crestmont is diverse and economically challenged. Around half of the students are Black, roughly three in ten are Hispanic, and the remainder are mostly white with small shares of Asian and multiracial students. A very high proportion of families qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, signaling that poverty is a significant factor in this community. The school is on the smaller side for an elementary covering PK through fourth grade, with an enrollment that gives classrooms a modest feel. Special education and English learner counts were not reported in the available data, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about how those populations are served.
State testing results for the most recent year show areas where Crestmont is working to build stronger academic footing. In English language arts, just over two in five students met proficiency benchmarks in third and fourth grade. In math, the share was roughly one in four for both grades. Science, tested in fourth grade, also showed about one in four students reaching the proficient level. These results place Crestmont’s overall proficiency below the midpoint when compared with other districts in Tuscaloosa County, in the bottom tier among the few districts for which data were available. The school has only one year of test data reported, so there is no trend to examine yet.
What is not present in the data matters here. Crestmont is an elementary school only, so there is no graduation rate to evaluate and no high school program offerings such as advanced placement or career pathways. The school’s Title I status was not reported, though the high share of low-income families would typically qualify a school for that support. No discipline rates, chronic absenteeism figures, or staffing ratios were available, so a parent considering Crestmont should follow up with the school office for those details.
Housing in the Northport area is moderately priced relative to national benchmarks. Home values have seen a slight dip in the most recent year, and rents are below what a typical mortgage would cost, making homeownership an attainable goal for many families who work in the region. The broader economic context shows a national unemployment rate holding steady and median household income rising slowly, which aligns with Northport’s profile as a growing suburban city.
Crestmont Elementary serves a community where many families face economic strain, and its test results reflect the kind of challenges that often accompany that context. For a parent whose priority is a neighborhood school with a diverse student body in a growing city, Crestmont offers a familiar entry point into the Tuscaloosa County system. A parent focused on high academic proficiency rates or who wants a school with documented enrichment programs will want to investigate further and talk with current families and staff to understand what supports are in place and how the school is addressing its academic gaps.
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