The top reported proficiency rate is 65% in English language arts. The lowest is 35% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Curry Elementary School
Curry Elementary serves prekindergarten through fourth grade in Jasper, a regional hub in north-central Alabama that acts as the county seat of Walker County. The school is part of the Walker County school district, which recently underwent a major consolidation that closed four elementary schools and shifted students to remaining buildings. Curry was not among the closed schools, and families considering it may want to note that the district is actively managing declining enrollment and reshaping its elementary footprint.
The student body at Curry is predominantly white, with a very small share of Hispanic, Black, and multiracial students. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a moderate-to-high level of economic need. The school serves about that size for its grade band, with enrollment spread fairly evenly across kindergarten through fourth grade, plus a prekindergarten program.
State testing results from the most recent year show a mixed picture. In English language arts, third graders performed at a level where a strong majority met proficiency, while fourth graders came in lower, with slightly more than half proficient. In math, the third-grade proficiency rate was just below half, while the fourth-grade rate was notably lower. In fourth-grade science, just over a third of students were proficient. These results place Curry’s overall proficiency index above the midpoint among Walker County’s two districts, meaning it performs stronger than one of them and weaker than the other. The data covers only one year, so a trend cannot be determined.
Because Curry ends at grade four, there is no graduation rate or high school program data to report. The school also had no publicly available information on chronic absenteeism, discipline, staffing ratios, or course access. A parent may want to ask the school directly about class sizes, student support services, and how the consolidation of other elementary schools has affected Curry’s enrollment or staffing.
Housing in the area is moderately priced relative to national benchmarks, with home values below the national median but showing modest year-over-year growth. Rents are relatively affordable compared to mortgage costs, and the local unemployment rate has held steady near the national average.
Jasper itself is a small city with a historic downtown square that hosts festivals, though it has faced retail decline and the loss of anchor businesses over time. The broader community offers parks, a public library, and access to lakes and national forest land. Transportation is car-dependent; no public transit was identified.
The Walker County district has also invested in career technical education programs at its center of technology, offering pathways in welding, healthcare, and information technology. While those programs are not available at Curry given its early elementary grade span, they represent a district-level commitment to workforce-oriented options for students who will eventually enter middle and high school.
For a family weighing Curry Elementary, the key considerations are a school that serves a largely homogeneous student population with moderate economic need, academic performance that is mixed and stronger in early-grade reading than in math and science at fourth grade, and a district that is actively consolidating schools and restructuring its elementary network. The school fits families looking for a traditional preK-4 public elementary in a small-city setting with a stable housing market and access to outdoor recreation, and who are comfortable confirming support details directly with the school.
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