Owens Cross Roads School

Set in Owens Cross Roads, Alabama, Owens Cross Roads School is an intimate elementary-level community, operated by Madison County. It educates 338 students across grades pre-K through 4. Compared to the state average of about 480 students per school, that is 30% below typical.

Owens Cross Roads School is one of 28 schools operated by Madison County, a district that instructs 20,691 students overall.

In terms of who attends, Owens Cross Roads School reports that White students make up the majority at 71%; the rest looks like 10% Black, 7% Native American, 7% Hispanic, 5% multiracial.

In terms of school funding signals, Staff filings list 18 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 18.8:1 students per teacher. That figure is higher than the state norm's 17.0:1 average. About 47% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal.

With demographic context factored in, Owens Cross Roads School performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 49.6%, the actual is 60.3%, a residual of +10.8 points.

Around the school, community-level numbers for Madison County indicate median household income runs about $86,499, 46% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 7%. Owens Cross Roads School is one of 89 public schools in Madison County (combined enrollment of about 55,800 students).

The closest other public school is GoldsmithSchiffman Elementary, roughly 3.3 miles away. Within five miles, there are 3 other public schools. On composite proficiency, Owens Cross Roads School comes 1st of 9 in the immediate cluster, higher than the nearby-schools average of 36.7%.

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

Looking at the recent track record. Owens Cross Roads School's enrollment has edged down 9% since 2018, when it stood at 370 (now 338). Over the same period, the White share declined from 77% to 71%. The student-to-teacher ratio loosened from 16.6:1 in 2018 to 18.8:1 today.

In the discussion threads here, members of the Owens Cross Roads School community share and discuss science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.