Columbia Elementary School

As a medium-sized elementary school in Madison, Alabama, Columbia Elementary School educates 701 students from grades K through 5, part of Madison City. Enrollment runs roughly 46% above the state mean of about 480.

Within Madison City, which oversees 13 schools and 13,046 students, Columbia Elementary School is one campus in the system.

On the student-mix side, Columbia Elementary School reports that 55% of students identify as White, with the remaining enrollment distributed across several groups. Other groups include 16% Black, 10% Asian, 10% Hispanic, 9% multiracial. By comparison, Madison County as a whole is about 63% White, so the school skews noticeably less White than its surroundings.

On the resource side, The school employs 50 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 14.2:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 17.0:1 average. An estimated 25% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. Set against Madison County (around 41%), the school's rate is noticeably below typical.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Columbia Elementary School sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 65.7%; this one delivers 70.7%.

In the surrounding community, census data for Madison County shows the typical household earns roughly $86,499 per year, 46% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 7%. In all, Madison County runs 89 public schools (combined enrollment of about 55,800 students), of which Columbia Elementary School is one.

The closest other public school is Liberty Middle School, roughly 0.7 miles away. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Among the 8 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Columbia Elementary School ranks 1st on composite proficiency, above the local average of 36.6%.

Columbia Elementary School operates from a residential location.

Trend over the last 7 years. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Columbia Elementary School has edged down 19%, going from 865 students in 2018 to 701 in 2025. Black enrollment moved from 22% to 16% across the same window. The student-to-teacher ratio fell from 18.1:1 in 2018 to 14.2:1 today.

In the discussion threads here, posts here usually surface around fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.