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What's the best and worst thing about the food at James Dawson Elementary?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
447
Elementary
DISTRICT 475 · STATE 480
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·HUNTSVILLE CITY·NCES 010180000650
James Dawson Elementary
5308 Mastin Lake Rd NW, Huntsville, AL 35810 · (256) 428-7500 · Madison County
GRADES PK–06ELEMENTARY12-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL447 STUDENTS
F
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 3% of Alabama public elementary schools
- DTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- FBeats 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
17.1:1
26 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 17.0:1 · STATE 17.0:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
71%
316 students
DISTRICT 50% · 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 | 36 | 8% |
| Kindergarten | 57 | 13% |
| Grade 1 | 60 | 13% |
| Grade 2 | 78 | 17% |
| Grade 3 | 54 | 12% |
| Grade 4 | 48 | 11% |
| Grade 5 | 58 | 13% |
| Grade 6 | 56 | 13% |
This year's kindergarten class (57) is about the same size as its 6th grade class (56).
Student demographics
48%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 69% · 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
33.2%
AL avg 52.7%
Math
15.9%
AL avg 31.8%
What this means: On the ACAP, Alabama's statewide test, about 33 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 16 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
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
23.4%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
32.6%
based on AL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-9.2pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 23% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 33% typical for Alabama schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Alabama's top nor bottom 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 James Dawson Elementary
James Dawson Elementary's state test result (23.4% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| James Dawson Elementary this school | 447 | 70.7% | 23.4% |
| Rolling Hills Elementary School Huntsville | 483 | 72.3% | 28.9% |
| Central Park Elementary School Birmingham | 386 | 72.3% | 30.4% |
| Highlands Elementary School Huntsville | 370 | 72.2% | 25.9% |
| Minor Community School Birmingham | 384 | 74.2% | 29.6% |
| Skyland Elementary School Tuscaloosa | 459 | 76.5% | 32.6% |
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 James Dawson Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Alabama | In Madison County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 23.4% | #574 of 626 | #44 of 48 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 15.9% | #555 of 626 | #43 of 48 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 33.2% | #591 of 626 | #46 of 48 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 447 | #379 of 709 | #34 of 50 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 17.1:1 | #344 of 655 | #24 of 49 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 47.8% | #326 of 658 | #40 of 49 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 70.7% | #212 of 696 | #8 of 49 |
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.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
447
+37 (+9%) vs 2020
-32% since 1990-91, when it was 655
Student : Teacher
17.1:1
was 15.2:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 447 | 26.2 | 17.1:1 | 71% (316) |
| 2023-24 | 447 | 22.2 | 20.1:1 | 89% (397) |
| 2022-23 | 432 | 19.8 | 21.8:1 | 88% (381) |
| 2020-21 | 410 | 27 | 15.2:1 | 90% (371) |
| 2017-18 | 447 | 28.4 | 15.7:1 | 86% (386) |
| 2015-16 | 437 | 27 | 16.2:1 | 64% (279) |
| 2010-11 | 316 | 20 | 15.8:1 | 84% (266) |
| 2000-01 | 441 | 32 | 13.8:1 | 75% (331) |
| 1990-91 | 655 | 34 | 19.3:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for James Dawson Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students unchanged (447 to 447); teachers down 8% (28.4 to 26.2).
About James Dawson Elementary
James Dawson Elementary is an elementary school in Huntsville, Alabama, and it is part of Huntsville City. The student body numbers 447 students, from pre-K through 6.
Across its 44 schools, Huntsville City enrolls 24,222 students. James Dawson Elementary is one of those schools.
At 70%, Black students outnumber all other groups at James Dawson Elementary combined. It is also 18% Hispanic, 6% White, and 5% multiracial. Madison County's residents are about 24% Black, 46 points below the school's share. The chance that two students picked at random at James Dawson Elementary belong to different racial or ethnic groups, known as the diversity index, is 48%.
The school reports 26.2 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to about 17.1 students per teacher. Elementary schools in Alabama have a similar average ratio of 17.0:1. Free or reduced-price lunch eligibility covers 71% of students. The average for public schools in Madison County is 41%.
allk12 grades James Dawson Elementary an F. The grade compares the school only with Alabama public elementary schools, because each state gives its own test.
Test results at James Dawson Elementary are 9.2 points below what its free or reduced-price lunch share predicts (23.4% actual, 32.6% predicted).
Census Bureau estimates for Madison County show that median household income is about $86,499, 46% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 7% of residents live below the federal poverty line. A total of 89 public schools operate in Madison County, serving about 55,800 students.
Academy For Academics Arts Elementary School is the public school closest to James Dawson Elementary, about 0.9 miles away. Inside a five-mile radius, there are at least 8 other public schools. James Dawson Elementary is 7th of 9 nearby schools by average proficiency rate.
Federal records code the school's setting as City: Mid-size.
The student count in 2024-25 was 447, 9% above the 410 of 2020-21. The number of students per teacher rose from 15.2 to 17.1 over 4 years.
If you have questions about science fairs, picture day, and bus routes at James Dawson Elementary, you can post them here. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
Madison County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
405,718
Census ACS
Median income
$86,499
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
46%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
89
55,800 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Huntsville City
- Virgil Grissom High SchoolHigh · 1,847 students
- Huntsville High SchoolHigh · 1,807 students
- Providence ElementaryElementary · 1,152 students
- GoldsmithSchiffman ElementaryElementary · 935 students
- Columbia High SchoolHigh · 916 students
- Lee High SchoolHigh · 877 students
Other schools in Huntsville
- Virgil Grissom High SchoolHigh · 1,847 students
- Huntsville High SchoolHigh · 1,807 students
- Providence ElementaryElementary · 1,152 students
- Monrovia Middle SchoolMiddle · 988 students
- Columbia High SchoolHigh · 916 students
- Lee High SchoolHigh · 877 students
Nearby schools
- Academy For Academics Arts Elementary School0.9 mi · 400
- Academy for Academics and Arts Middle School0.9 mi · 270
- Highlands Elementary School1.2 mi · 370
- Jemison High School1.8 mi · 858
- Ronald McNair 781.8 mi · 390
- Academy For Science Foreign Language Middle School1.9 mi · 194
Frequently asked questions
About James Dawson ElementaryWhat is the total enrollment at James Dawson Elementary?
James Dawson Elementary enrolls approximately 447 students in grades PK-06.
What age range does James Dawson Elementary serve?
James Dawson Elementary serves students from grade PK through grade 06.
What is the student-teacher ratio at James Dawson Elementary?
The student-to-teacher ratio at James Dawson Elementary is approximately 17.1:1 (26 FTE teachers).
How diverse is James Dawson Elementary?
James Dawson Elementary reports a student body of 6% White, 18% Hispanic, 70% Black, 1% Asian, 5% Two or more.
What district is James Dawson Elementary in?
James Dawson Elementary is part of Huntsville City.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.