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What do you wish you knew before starting at Matthews Elementary School?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
401
Elementary
DISTRICT 462 · STATE 480
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·TUSCALOOSA COUNTY·NCES 010339001283
Matthews Elementary School
1225 Rice Mine Road, Northport, AL 35476 · (205) 342-2654 · Tuscaloosa County
GRADES PK–04ELEMENTARY22-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL401 STUDENTS
C-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 19% 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.
- C+Beats 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
15.3:1
26 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 16.2:1 · STATE 17.0:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
87%
348 students
DISTRICT 53% · 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 | 4% |
| Kindergarten | 83 | 21% |
| Grade 1 | 77 | 19% |
| Grade 2 | 69 | 17% |
| Grade 3 | 78 | 19% |
| Grade 4 | 77 | 19% |
This year's kindergarten class (83) is 8% larger than its 4th grade class (77).
Student demographics
54%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 62% · 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
36.0%
AL avg 52.7%
Math
22.4%
AL avg 31.8%
What this means: On the ACAP, Alabama's statewide test, about 36 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 22 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
25.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
20.9%
based on AL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+5.0pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 26% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 21% 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 Matthews Elementary School
Matthews Elementary School's state test result (25.9% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Matthews Elementary School this school | 401 | 86.8% | 25.9% |
| W E Striplin Elementary School Gadsden | 400 | 84.8% | 33.0% |
| Adams Elementary School Gadsden | 433 | 90.8% | 23.3% |
| Carver Primary School Opelika | 414 | 91.1% | N/A |
| Chisholm Elementary School Montgomery | 493 | 81.5% | 13.6% |
| West Forest Intermediate School Opelika | 393 | 91.6% | 36.4% |
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 Matthews Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Alabama | In Tuscaloosa County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 25.9% | #556 of 626 | #28 of 29 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 22.4% | #487 of 626 | #25 of 29 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 36.0% | #577 of 626 | #28 of 29 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 401 | #438 of 709 | #22 of 31 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 15.3:1 | #124 of 655 | #14 of 31 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 54.4% | #246 of 658 | #10 of 31 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 86.8% | #32 of 696 | #1 of 31 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -18.7% | #108 of 364 | #4 of 16 |
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
401
-57 (-12%) vs 2020
-43% since 1990-91, when it was 698
Student : Teacher
15.3:1
was 16.4:1
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 | 401 | 26.3 | 15.3:1 | 87% (348) |
| 2023-24 | 390 | 23 | 17.0:1 | 89% (346) |
| 2022-23 | 401 | 23.5 | 17.1:1 | 85% (340) |
| 2020-21 | 458 | 28 | 16.4:1 | 89% (407) |
| 2017-18 | 493 | 25 | 19.7:1 | 93% (457) |
| 2015-16 | 492 | 24 | 20.5:1 | 68% (336) |
| 2010-11 | 409 | 26 | 15.7:1 | 94% (385) |
| 2000-01 | 343 | 26 | 13.2:1 | 86% (294) |
| 1990-91 | 698 | 39 | 17.9:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Matthews Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 19% (493 to 401); teachers up 5% (25 to 26.3).
About Matthews Elementary School
Northport, Alabama, is home to Matthews Elementary School, a low-enrollment elementary school. Total enrollment is 401 students, and the grades served are pre-K through 4.
Tuscaloosa County oversees Matthews Elementary School and 34 other schools, with 19,278 students in total.
Of every 100 students at Matthews Elementary School, about 58 are Black. The rest of enrollment is 35% Hispanic and 6% White. Among all residents of Tuscaloosa County, the Black share is about 31%. Measured by the diversity index, the student body scores 54%.
Its ratio of 15.3:1 is based on 26.3 full-time-equivalent teachers. Elementary schools in Alabama have an average ratio of 17.0:1. In all, 87% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The rate at public schools in Tuscaloosa County averages 54%, lower than here.
Matthews Elementary School earns a C- on the allk12 Grade, which blends test scores, results against poverty-based expectations, and the three-year trend. It scored higher than 19% of Alabama public elementary schools.
Matthews Elementary School scores 25.9% on state tests, averaged across results. The predicted figure, based on its student poverty level, is 20.9%.
Census data for Tuscaloosa County show the median household earns about $66,231 a year, 32% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 11% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Public schools in Tuscaloosa County number 58, with about 30,508 students.
CollinsRiverside Middle School is about 0.1 miles away, making it the nearest public school. Other public schools within five miles number at least 8. Compared with its nearest neighbors, Matthews Elementary School ranks 6th of 8 on average proficiency.
Federal data place Matthews Elementary School in the Suburb: Mid-size locale, which means it is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population between 100,000 and 250,000.
Over the 4 years from 2020-21 to 2024-25, enrollment fell 12%. The ratio was 16.4:1 in 2020-21 and 15.3:1 in 2024-25.
The Matthews Elementary School discussion page is a place for homework, tutoring, and testing dates. You can also rate the school on this page.
Tuscaloosa County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
237,552
Census ACS
Median income
$66,231
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
32%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
11%
Below federal line
Schools in county
58
30,508 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Tuscaloosa County
- Tuscaloosa County High SchoolHigh · 1,607 students
- Hillcrest High SchoolHigh · 1,434 students
- Brookwood High SchoolHigh · 1,076 students
- Lake View Elementary SchoolElementary · 744 students
- Walker Elementary SchoolElementary · 743 students
- Brookwood Middle SchoolMiddle · 738 students
Other schools in Northport
- Tuscaloosa County High SchoolHigh · 1,607 students
- Walker Elementary SchoolElementary · 743 students
- Echols Middle SchoolMiddle · 738 students
- Northport Elementary SchoolElementary · 558 students
- Northside High SchoolHigh · 535 students
- Northport Intermediate SchoolMiddle · 500 students
Other Matthews Elementary schools
4 other US public schools in 4 states are named Matthews Elementary. Matthews Elementary School is the 3rd largest of the 5.
- Matthews ElementaryMatthews, NC · 726 students
- MATTHEWS ELEM.GRAIN VALLEY, MO · 422 students
- MATTHEWS ELEMENTARY SCHOOLPINE BLUFF, AR · 367 students
- MATTHEWS ELEMENTARYMATTHEWS, MO · 139 students
Nearby schools
- CollinsRiverside Middle School0.1 mi · 318
- Lloyd Wood Education Center1.0 mi · 205
- Echols Middle School1.1 mi · 738
- Crestmont Elementary School1.4 mi · 268
- Central Elementary School1.5 mi · 291
- Westlawn Middle School1.6 mi · 568
Frequently asked questions
About Matthews Elementary SchoolHow large is Matthews Elementary School?
Matthews Elementary School enrolls approximately 401 students in grades PK-04.
What age range does Matthews Elementary School serve?
Matthews Elementary School serves students from grade PK through grade 04.
How many students per teacher at Matthews Elementary School?
Approximately 15.3:1 students per teacher at Matthews Elementary School.
How diverse is Matthews Elementary School?
Matthews Elementary School reports a student body of 6% White, 35% Hispanic, 58% Black, 0% Asian, 1% Two or more.
What district is Matthews Elementary School in?
Matthews Elementary School is part of Tuscaloosa County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.