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Alumni: what's one memory from McDonnell Elementary School that still sticks with you?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
511
Elementary
DISTRICT 475 · STATE 480
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·HUNTSVILLE CITY·NCES 010180000638
McDonnell Elementary School
4010 Binderton Pl, Huntsville, AL 35805 · (256) 428-7280 · Madison County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY12-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL511 STUDENTS
F
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 2% 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
18.9:1
27 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 17.0:1 · STATE 17.0:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
67%
340 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 | 35 | 7% |
| Kindergarten | 76 | 15% |
| Grade 1 | 91 | 18% |
| Grade 2 | 83 | 16% |
| Grade 3 | 94 | 18% |
| Grade 4 | 68 | 13% |
| Grade 5 | 64 | 13% |
This year's kindergarten class (76) is 19% larger than its 5th grade class (64).
Student demographics
55%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
30.8%
AL avg 52.7%
Math
14.8%
AL avg 31.8%
What this means: On the ACAP, Alabama's statewide test, about 31 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 15 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
20.7%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
35.6%
based on AL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-14.9pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 21% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 36% 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 McDonnell Elementary School
McDonnell Elementary School's state test result (20.7% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| McDonnell Elementary School this school | 511 | 66.5% | 20.7% |
| Austinville Elementary School Decatur | 463 | 67.6% | 41.9% |
| Ridgecrest Elementary School Huntsville | 463 | 69.8% | 28.8% |
| Russellville Elementary School Russellville | 576 | 62.0% | 61.2% |
| Oak Park Elementary School Decatur | 481 | 70.9% | 20.5% |
| BanksCaddell Elementary School Decatur | 477 | 76.5% | 30.4% |
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 McDonnell Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Alabama | In Madison County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 20.7% | #594 of 626 | #47 of 48 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 14.8% | #568 of 626 | #46 of 48 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 30.8% | #603 of 626 | #48 of 48 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 511 | #278 of 709 | #26 of 50 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 18.9:1 | #545 of 655 | #44 of 49 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 54.7% | #238 of 658 | #32 of 49 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 66.5% | #265 of 696 | #10 of 49 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -0.6% | #354 of 364 | #28 of 29 |
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
511
+53 (+12%) vs 2020
+6% since 1990-91, when it was 483
Student : Teacher
18.9:1
was 15.8:1
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 | 511 | 27 | 18.9:1 | 67% (340) |
| 2023-24 | 445 | 25 | 17.8:1 | 88% (393) |
| 2022-23 | 528 | 25 | 21.1:1 | 85% (449) |
| 2020-21 | 458 | 29 | 15.8:1 | 88% (401) |
| 2017-18 | 514 | 30.5 | 16.9:1 | 88% (450) |
| 2015-16 | 522 | 29 | 18.0:1 | 58% (301) |
| 2010-11 | 472 | 31 | 15.2:1 | 85% (401) |
| 2000-01 | 414 | 34 | 12.2:1 | 80% (332) |
| 1990-91 | 483 | 27 | 17.9:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for McDonnell Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students down 1% (514 to 511); teachers down 11% (30.5 to 27).
About McDonnell Elementary School
Huntsville, Alabama, is home to McDonnell Elementary School, a medium-sized elementary school. The school's enrollment of 511 students covers pre-K through 5.
McDonnell Elementary School is part of Huntsville City, where 44 schools serve 24,222 students.
Hispanic students make up a majority at McDonnell Elementary School, at 62%. Smaller groups are 24% Black, 10% White, and 2% multiracial. For comparison, the population of Madison County is roughly 7% Hispanic. McDonnell Elementary School's diversity index is 55%, against a US figure of 70%.
McDonnell Elementary School's 27 full-time-equivalent teachers put its ratio at 18.9:1. On average, elementary schools in Alabama have 17.0:1, compared with 18.9:1 here. The school's rate of free or reduced-price lunch eligibility is 67%. The rate at public schools in Madison County averages 41%, lower than here.
The allk12 Grade for McDonnell Elementary School is F. Compared with Alabama public elementary schools, the school scored higher than 2% on a mix of test scores, poverty-adjusted results, and recent trend.
The model predicts 35.6% for a school in Alabama with McDonnell Elementary School's free or reduced-price lunch share. McDonnell Elementary School posts 20.7%.
Madison County has about 405,718 residents, and the median household income is $86,499, about 46% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 7%. In all, Madison County has 89 public schools and roughly 55,800 students.
The closest other public school is Ridgecrest Elementary School, about 0.9 miles away. Within five miles are at least 8 other public schools. Its average proficiency rate of 20.7% is below the 31.1% average for nearby schools.
NCES assigns McDonnell Elementary School the locale City: Mid-size, meaning inside a principal city with a population between 100,000 and 250,000.
Enrollment is up 12% from 2020-21, when McDonnell Elementary School had 458 students, to 2024-25, when it had 511. Students per teacher rose from 15.8 in 2020-21 to 18.9 in 2024-25.
Conversations here can range across school safety, transportation, and start times. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
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
- Ridgecrest Elementary School0.9 mi · 463
- Morris Elementary School1.9 mi · 532
- Morris Middle School1.9 mi · 397
- Huntsville High School2.5 mi · 1,807
- Whitesburg Elementary School2.9 mi · 379
- Whitesburg Middle School2.9 mi · 535
Frequently asked questions
About McDonnell Elementary SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at McDonnell Elementary School?
McDonnell Elementary School enrolls approximately 511 students in grades PK-05.
What age range does McDonnell Elementary School serve?
McDonnell Elementary School serves students from grade PK through grade 05.
How many teachers does McDonnell Elementary School have?
McDonnell Elementary School employs 27 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 18.9:1.
What is the racial breakdown of students at McDonnell Elementary School?
At McDonnell Elementary School, the student body is approximately 10% White, 62% Hispanic, 24% Black, 1% Asian, 2% Two or more.
Is McDonnell Elementary School public or private?
McDonnell Elementary School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Huntsville City.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.