Martin L King Jr Elementary School

Martin L King Jr Elementary School, a mid-tier K-5 school in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, run under Tuscaloosa City, instructs 467 students, covering grades pre-K through 5.

Tuscaloosa City runs 19 schools in total, collectively educating 11,230 students. Martin L King Jr Elementary School is one of those campuses.

On demographics, Martin L King Jr Elementary School lists that 88% of students identify as Black, making the school strongly Black-majority. Beyond that, the school shows 10% Hispanic. That is meaningfully more Black than the county at large, where the share is closer to 31%.

In terms of school funding signals, Staff filings list 28 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 16.7:1 students per teacher. That tracks the state average closely. About 79% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. That share is above Tuscaloosa County's rate of about 54%.

After controlling for student poverty, Martin L King Jr Elementary School tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 26.4% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 31.1%.

In the broader community, community-level numbers for Tuscaloosa County indicate median household earnings sit near $66,231, about 32% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 11%. In all, Tuscaloosa County runs 58 public schools (combined enrollment of about 30,508 students), of which Martin L King Jr Elementary School is one.

Westlawn Middle School is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.5 miles from this campus. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Martin L King Jr Elementary School. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Martin L King Jr Elementary School at 6th of 8; the average score across the group is 35.5%.

Geographically, the school is in a high-density area.

Looking at the recent track record. Martin L King Jr Elementary School's enrollment has edged up 7% since 2018, when it stood at 436 (now 467). Black enrollment moved from 96% to 88% across the same window. Class-load math has rose: from 14.6:1 in 2018 to 16.7:1 in 2025.

In the discussion threads here, recent activity here tends to focus on enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to weigh in.