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What tradition at McCalla Elementary School should never be changed?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
752
Elementary
DISTRICT 523 · STATE 480
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·JEFFERSON COUNTY·NCES 010192000710
McCalla Elementary School
2020 McCalla School Road, Bessemer, AL 35022 · (205) 379-3750 · Jefferson County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY41-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL752 STUDENTS
C+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 36% of Alabama public elementary schools
- C+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- CBeats 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
18.5:1
41 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 17.7:1 · STATE 17.0:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
54%
409 students
DISTRICT 59% · 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 | 31 | 4% |
| Kindergarten | 116 | 15% |
| Grade 1 | 135 | 18% |
| Grade 2 | 123 | 16% |
| Grade 3 | 131 | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 110 | 15% |
| Grade 5 | 106 | 14% |
This year's kindergarten class (116) is 9% larger than its 5th grade class (106).
Student demographics
61%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
62.4%
AL avg 52.7%
Math
37.7%
AL avg 31.8%
What this means: On the ACAP, Alabama's statewide test, about 62 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 38 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
46.7%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
44.5%
based on AL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+2.2pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 47% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 44% 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 McCalla Elementary School
McCalla Elementary School's state test result (46.7% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 3 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| McCalla Elementary School this school | 752 | 54.4% | 46.7% |
| Harvest School Harvest | 663 | 53.1% | 41.6% |
| Hueytown Primary School Hueytown | 601 | 58.7% | N/A |
| Coosada Elementary School Millbrook | 797 | 56.5% | N/A |
| McAdory Elementary School McCalla | 617 | 50.4% | 43.2% |
| Clay Elementary School Clay | 606 | 54.8% | 37.2% |
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 McCalla Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Alabama | In Jefferson County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 46.7% | #348 of 626 | #38 of 89 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 37.7% | #334 of 626 | #36 of 89 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 62.4% | #329 of 626 | #36 of 89 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 752 | #76 of 709 | #10 of 97 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 18.5:1 | #508 of 655 | #66 of 93 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 60.6% | #144 of 658 | #18 of 94 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 54.4% | #422 of 696 | #61 of 96 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +202.0% | #1 of 262 | #1 of 31 |
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
752
+504 (+203%) vs 2020
+203% since 1990-91, when it was 248
Student : Teacher
18.5:1
was 17.7:1
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 | 752 | 40.6 | 18.5:1 | 54% (409) |
| 2023-24 | 765 | 37 | 20.7:1 | 68% (523) |
| 2022-23 | 697 | 37 | 18.8:1 | 69% (480) |
| 2020-21 | 248 | 14 | 17.7:1 | 52% (129) |
| 2017-18 | 249 | 14.4 | 17.3:1 | 54% (135) |
| 2015-16 | 261 | 13 | 20.1:1 | 54% (142) |
| 2010-11 | 178 | 17 | 10.5:1 | 38% (68) |
| 2000-01 | 182 | 11 | 16.6:1 | 46% (84) |
| 1990-91 | 248 | 16 | 15.5:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for McCalla Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students up 202% (249 to 752); teachers up 182% (14.4 to 40.6).
About McCalla Elementary School
McCalla Elementary School runs as a large elementary school in Bessemer, Alabama. The school runs pre-K through 5 and enrolls 752 students. Elementary schools in Alabama average about 480 students, which makes this school 57% above average.
The 55 schools of Jefferson County, including McCalla Elementary School, enroll 35,444 students.
The largest group at McCalla Elementary School is Black students, at 56%. The remaining students are 23% White, 17% Hispanic, and 3% multiracial. Among people living in Jefferson County, the Black share is about 42%. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, McCalla Elementary School scores 61%.
Staffing at McCalla Elementary School comes to 40.6 full-time-equivalent teachers, or 18.5:1. Elementary schools in Alabama average 17.0:1, 1.5 fewer students per teacher than here. McCalla Elementary School counts 54% of students as eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The average for public schools in Jefferson County is similar, at 52%.
On the allk12 Grade, McCalla Elementary School lands at C+, ahead of 36% of Alabama public elementary schools.
McCalla Elementary School posts an average proficiency rate across its state test results of 46.7%, compared with a predicted 44.5%. It is not in the top or bottom 10% of Alabama schools on BeatsExpectations.
American Community Survey estimates for Jefferson County show that median household income comes to about $66,388, roughly 36% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 11% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Jefferson County counts 181 public schools with about 97,401 students.
McAdory Middle School is about 2.0 miles from McCalla Elementary School, the shortest distance to any other public school. A five-mile radius around the school includes 7 other public schools. Of the 8 nearby schools with scores, including this one, McCalla Elementary School is 1st on average proficiency.
The NCES locale for McCalla Elementary School is Rural: Fringe, which covers schools in rural territory close to an urban area.
McCalla Elementary School had 248 students in 2020-21 and 752 in 2024-25, according to federal records. Those counts may cover different grade spans.
You can use this page to share news and ask questions about fundraisers, report cards, and school supplies. You can also rate the school on this page.
Jefferson County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
667,755
Census ACS
Median income
$66,388
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
36%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
11%
Below federal line
Schools in county
181
97,401 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Jefferson County
- ClayChalkville High SchoolHigh · 1,377 students
- McAdory High SchoolHigh · 1,259 students
- Hueytown High SchoolHigh · 1,200 students
- Shades Valley High SchoolHigh · 1,094 students
- Gardendale High SchoolHigh · 1,076 students
- Pinson Valley High SchoolHigh · 1,025 students
Other schools in Bessemer
- Oak Grove High SchoolHigh · 777 students
- Bessemer City High SchoolHigh · 760 students
- Bessemer City Middle SchoolMiddle · 616 students
- Oak Grove Elementary SchoolElementary · 576 students
- Jonesboro Elementary SchoolElementary · 474 students
- Concord Elementary SchoolElementary · 400 students
Nearby schools
- McAdory Middle School2.0 mi · 841
- McAdory High School2.1 mi · 1,259
- Greenwood Elementary School3.4 mi · 290
- Empower Community School Upper Campus4.0 mi · 211
- McAdory Elementary School4.0 mi · 617
- Bessemer City Middle School4.4 mi · 616
Frequently asked questions
About McCalla Elementary SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at McCalla Elementary School?
McCalla Elementary School enrolls approximately 752 students in grades PK-05.
What age range does McCalla Elementary School serve?
McCalla Elementary School serves students from grade PK through grade 05.
How many teachers does McCalla Elementary School have?
McCalla Elementary School employs 41 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 18.5:1.
How diverse is McCalla Elementary School?
McCalla Elementary School reports a student body of 23% White, 17% Hispanic, 56% Black, 1% Asian, 3% Two or more.
What district is McCalla Elementary School in?
McCalla Elementary School is part of Jefferson County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.