Leon Sheffield Magnet Elementary School

Leon Sheffield Magnet Elementary School is a compact elementary school in Decatur, Alabama, run under Decatur City. The school hosts 297 students in grades 3 through 5. By comparison, Alabama's public schools average about 480 students each, so Leon Sheffield Magnet Elementary School sits 38% leaner than that benchmark.

Within Decatur City, which oversees 19 schools and 8,902 students, Leon Sheffield Magnet Elementary School is one campus in the system.

On the student-mix side, Leon Sheffield Magnet Elementary School reports that the most-represented group is White (48%), with the rest of the student body spread across multiple groups. The remainder looks like 29% Black, 17% Hispanic, 6% multiracial. The wider county runs roughly 74% White, putting the school's mix considerably less White than the area baseline.

In terms of school funding signals, Leon Sheffield Magnet Elementary School lists 17 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 17.2:1. The state averages about 17.0:1, putting this campus right in line with peers. Around 46% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. By comparison, Morgan County runs at roughly 56%, so the school's eligibility rate is below the surrounding baseline.

With demographic context factored in, Leon Sheffield Magnet Elementary School ranks in the top 10% of Alabama public schools. The BeatsExpectations model, a per-state regression of composite proficiency on FRL share, predicts schools with this student profile to land around 50.7%; Leon Sheffield Magnet Elementary School posts 77.9%, +27.2 points above that line.

In the surrounding community, community-level numbers for Morgan County indicate the typical household earns roughly $68,845 per year, roughly 23% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and the poverty rate sits near 9%. Across Morgan County's 46 public schools (combined enrollment of about 20,204 students), Leon Sheffield Magnet Elementary School is one campus in the mix.

Nearest neighbor: Benjamin Davis Elementary School, around 0.9 miles off. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Among the 7 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Leon Sheffield Magnet Elementary School ranks 1st on composite proficiency, above the local average of 35.4%.

The school occupies a downtown site.

Over the past 7-year window. Over the past 7-year window, the student count declined 7%: 319 students in 2018 compared to 297 in 2025. White enrollment moved from 59% to 48% across the same window.

On allk12, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.