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Alumni: what's one memory from Cottonwood Elementary School that still sticks with you?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
502
Elementary
DISTRICT 597 · STATE 480
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·HOUSTON COUNTY·NCES 010177002508
Cottonwood Elementary School
663 Houston St, Cottonwood, AL 36320 · (334) 691-2587 · Houston County
GRADES PK–06ELEMENTARY42-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL502 STUDENTS
A-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 81% of Alabama public elementary schools
- B+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- ABeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Alabama public elementary schools
Student : Teacher
16.7:1
30 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 16.4:1 · STATE 17.0:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
61%
306 students
DISTRICT 57% · STATE 58%
Community
6
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 17 | 3% |
| Kindergarten | 86 | 17% |
| Grade 1 | 81 | 16% |
| Grade 2 | 60 | 12% |
| Grade 3 | 79 | 16% |
| Grade 4 | 63 | 13% |
| Grade 5 | 52 | 10% |
| Grade 6 | 64 | 13% |
This year's kindergarten class (86) is 34% larger than its 6th grade class (64).
Student demographics
38%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 47% · STATE 63% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
ACAP 2024-25 . % ProficientEnglish Language Arts
66.1%
AL avg 52.7%
Math
60.8%
AL avg 31.8%
What this means: On the ACAP, Alabama's statewide test, about 66 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 61 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Alabama schools, those numbers are about 53 and 32.
Source: ACAP. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of AL schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
59.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
39.7%
based on AL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+19.9pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 60% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 40% typical for Alabama schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations ranks schools against others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school can post high scores and still fall short of its prediction, or post lower scores and still beat it. This school clears its prediction by about 20 points, placing it in Alabama's top 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Cottonwood Elementary School
Cottonwood Elementary School's state test result (59.6% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cottonwood Elementary School this school | 502 | 61.0% | 59.6% |
| Opp Elementary School Opp | 547 | 61.6% | 61.5% |
| Ashland Elementary School Ashland | 455 | 62.4% | 55.1% |
| Piedmont Elementary School Piedmont | 542 | 58.9% | 76.5% |
| Breitling Elementary School Grand Bay | 471 | 59.4% | 49.2% |
| J E Turner Elementary Wilmer | 529 | 61.4% | 66.4% |
Matched among Alabama elementary schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Cottonwood Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Alabama | In Houston County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 59.6% | #194 of 626 | #6 of 14 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 60.8% | #102 of 626 | #5 of 14 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 66.1% | #282 of 626 | #7 of 14 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 502 | #292 of 709 | #5 of 16 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 16.7:1 | #300 of 655 | #7 of 15 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 38.3% | #423 of 658 | #13 of 15 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 61.0% | #331 of 696 | #11 of 15 |
Ranked against other public elementary schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 502 | 30 | 16.7:1 | 61% (306) |
| 2023-24 | 508 | 31 | 16.4:1 | 73% (372) |
| 2022-23 | 481 | 29 | 16.6:1 | 73% (352) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Cottonwood Elementary School.
About Cottonwood Elementary School
Cottonwood Elementary School is the name of a mid-sized elementary school in Cottonwood, Alabama. Its grade span covers pre-K through 6, with 502 students on the rolls.
Houston County is responsible for 14 schools, Cottonwood Elementary School included, with 6,907 students in all.
More than half of enrollment at Cottonwood Elementary School is White: 77%. Other groups make up 12% Black, 6% Hispanic, and 4% multiracial. Houston County as a whole is about 65% White, so the school's share is higher. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, Cottonwood Elementary School scores 38%.
Based on 30 full-time-equivalent teachers, Cottonwood Elementary School has a ratio of 16.7:1. The ratio is within a point of the 17.0:1 average for elementary schools in Alabama. Income data for the school show 61% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That is in line with the 63% average for public schools in Houston County.
Cottonwood Elementary School earns an A- on the allk12 Grade, which blends test scores, results against poverty-based expectations, and the three-year trend. It scored higher than 81% of Alabama public elementary schools.
Cottonwood Elementary School posts an average proficiency rate across its state test results of 59.6%. Schools with its free or reduced-price lunch share in Alabama are predicted to post 39.7%, so the school is 19.9 points ahead and in the state's top 10%.
For the population of Houston County, the median household earns about $58,626 a year, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 23% of adults, and the poverty rate is about 13%. Across Houston County, 35 public schools serve about 15,127 students.
Cottonwood Elementary School's nearest public school is Cottonwood High School (less than a tenth of a mile). The count of other public schools within ten miles is at least 8. Cottonwood Elementary School is 4th of 8 nearby schools by average proficiency rate.
For locale, NCES codes Cottonwood Elementary School as Rural: Distant.
The allk12 page for Cottonwood Elementary School lets the school community talk about pickup and drop-off, after-school programs, and teacher feedback. Current and former families are welcome to add their experience.
Houston County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
108,140
Census ACS
Median income
$58,626
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
23%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
13%
Below federal line
Schools in county
35
15,127 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Houston County
- Rehobeth High SchoolHigh · 786 students
- Rehobeth Primary SchoolElementary · 761 students
- Ashford Elementary SchoolElementary · 668 students
- Wicksburg Elementary SchoolElementary · 636 students
- Rehobeth Elementary SchoolMiddle · 590 students
- Wicksburg High SchoolHigh · 461 students
Other Cottonwood Elementary schools
20 other US public schools in 12 states are named Cottonwood Elementary. Cottonwood Elementary School is the 9th largest of the 21.
- Cottonwood Elementary SchoolCLEVELAND, TX · 1,023 students
- Cottonwood ElementaryHesperia, CA · 868 students
- COTTONWOOD ELEMENTARYCARLSBAD, NM · 684 students
- COTTONWOOD ELEMENTARYRIGBY, ID · 682 students
- Cottonwood ElementaryPalmdale, CA · 652 students
Nearby schools
- Cottonwood High School0.0 mi · 379
- Ashford Elementary School9.3 mi · 668
- Ashford High School9.7 mi · 413
- Ashford Middle School9.8 mi · 316
- Rehobeth Primary School9.8 mi · 761
- Rehobeth Elementary School9.8 mi · 590
Frequently asked questions
About Cottonwood Elementary SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Cottonwood Elementary School?
Cottonwood Elementary School enrolls approximately 502 students in grades PK-06.
What grades does Cottonwood Elementary School serve?
Cottonwood Elementary School serves grades PK-06.
How many teachers does Cottonwood Elementary School have?
Cottonwood Elementary School employs 30 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 16.7:1.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Cottonwood Elementary School?
At Cottonwood Elementary School, the student body is approximately 77% White, 6% Hispanic, 12% Black, 4% Two or more.
Who oversees Cottonwood Elementary School?
Cottonwood Elementary School is overseen by Houston County in Houston County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.