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SCHOOL COMMUNITY·HUNTSVILLE CITY·NCES 010180002425

Sonnie Hereford Elementary School

2755 Wilson Drive, Huntsville, AL 35816 · (256) 428-7440 · Madison County
GRADES PK–06ELEMENTARY12-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL578 STUDENTS
F
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 4% 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.
  • DBeats 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

Enrollment
578
Elementary
DISTRICT 475 · STATE 480
Student : Teacher
18.6:1
31 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 17.0:1 · STATE 17.0:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
79%
459 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

GradeStudentsShare
Pre-K132%
Kindergarten8415%
Grade 19416%
Grade 28314%
Grade 38415%
Grade 46812%
Grade 58515%
Grade 66712%

This year's kindergarten class (84) is 25% larger than its 6th grade class (67).

Student demographics
56%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 69% · STATE 63% · US 70%
White
366%
DISTRICT 35% · STATE 50% · US 43%
Hispanic
12021%
DISTRICT 17% · STATE 12% · US 30%
Black
35662%
DISTRICT 39% · STATE 31% · US 15%
Asian
51%
DISTRICT 2% · STATE 1% · US 6%
Two+
5810%
DISTRICT 7% · STATE 4% · US 5%
Pacific Islander
31%
DISTRICT 0% · STATE 0% · US 0%
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
Male
27948%
Female
29952%

Discussions

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Test scores

ACAP 2024-25 . % Proficient
English Language Arts
34.7%
AL avg 52.7%
Math
15.1%
AL avg 31.8%

What this means: On the ACAP, Alabama's statewide test, about 35 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 · methodology
Tier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
21.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
26.3%
based on AL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-4.7pp
below demographic expectation

What this means: About 22% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 26% 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 Sonnie Hereford Elementary School

Sonnie Hereford Elementary School's state test result (21.6% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.

SchoolStudentsLow-incomeProficient
Sonnie Hereford Elementary School this school57879.4%21.6%
Martin Luther King Jr Elementary School
Huntsville
45879.9%19.4%
Martha Gaskins K5
Birmingham
53776.2%24.9%
Brewbaker Intermediate School
Montgomery
54983.4%26.1%
Dalraida Elementary School
Montgomery
71174.5%36.2%
Holt Elementary School
Tuscaloosa
44882.4%24.8%
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 Sonnie Hereford Elementary School ranks

Among elementary schools
MeasureThis schoolIn AlabamaIn Madison County
State test proficiency
ranked highest first
21.6%#589 of 626#46 of 48
Math proficiency
ranked highest first
15.1%#563 of 626#44 of 48
Reading proficiency
ranked highest first
34.7%#587 of 626#45 of 48
Enrollment
ranked largest first
578#196 of 709#22 of 50
Students per teacher
ranked fewest first
18.6:1#523 of 655#42 of 49
Diversity index
ranked most diverse first
56.4%#210 of 658#30 of 49
Free and reduced lunch
ranked highest share first
79.4%#95 of 696#2 of 49
Enrollment change since 2017-18
ranked fastest growth first
+5.1%#200 of 262#14 of 17
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 2024-25
Enrollment
578
-32 (-5%) vs 2020
Student : Teacher
18.6:1
was 14.5:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data

Enrollment and staffing by year

School yearStudentsTeachers (FTE)Students per teacherFree and reduced lunch
2024-255783118.6:179% (459)
2023-245703317.3:195% (539)
2022-236113119.7:192% (563)
2020-216104214.5:192% (563)
2017-185503117.7:192% (505)
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Sonnie Hereford Elementary School.

Since 2017-18: students up 5% (550 to 578); teachers unchanged (31 to 31).

About Sonnie Hereford Elementary School

Sonnie Hereford Elementary School is a public elementary school run by Huntsville City in Huntsville, Alabama. Enrollment is 578 students in 2024-25, and the school serves pre-K through 6. Against the 480-student average for elementary schools in Alabama, enrollment here is 20% higher.

The 44 schools in Huntsville City enroll 24,222 students altogether, Sonnie Hereford Elementary School among them.

Roughly 62% of students at Sonnie Hereford Elementary School are Black. Other groups include 21% Hispanic, 10% multiracial, and 6% White. By comparison, Madison County residents are about 24% Black. Sonnie Hereford Elementary School's diversity index is 56%, against a US figure of 70%.

The school employs the equivalent of 31 full-time teachers, for a ratio of 18.6:1. That is 1.7 students per teacher above the 17.0:1 average for elementary schools in Alabama. The free or reduced-price lunch rate at Sonnie Hereford Elementary School is 79%. For comparison, public schools in Madison County average 41%.

Measured against Alabama public elementary schools, Sonnie Hereford Elementary School receives an F. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.

The BeatsExpectations prediction for Sonnie Hereford Elementary School is 26.3%, and its average proficiency rate on state tests is 21.6%.

County data help place the school in context: in Madison County, the median household income is $86,499, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 46%, and about 7% of people live in poverty. In all, Madison County has 89 public schools and roughly 55,800 students.

Nearby, Montview Elementary School is about 1.6 miles away. There are at least 8 more public schools inside five miles. Sonnie Hereford Elementary School's average proficiency of 21.6% compares with 34.3% for its nearest scored neighbors.

NCES lists the school's locale as City: Mid-size. That means it sits inside a principal city with a population between 100,000 and 250,000.

Enrollment has fallen by 32 students since 2020-21, to 578. The number of students per teacher rose from 14.5 to 18.6 over 4 years.

Conversations here can range across science fairs, picture day, and bus routes. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.

Madison County at a glance

View full county profile
Population
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

School name
Sonnie Hereford Elementary School
District
Huntsville City
Address
2755 Wilson Drive, Huntsville, AL 35816
Phone
(256) 428-7440
County
Madison County
Level
Elementary
Grade range
PK–06
Total enrollment
578
Teachers (FTE)
31
Student–teacher ratio
18.6:1
Free and reduced lunch
459 (79%)
Locale
12-City: Mid-size
NCES ID
010180002425
Charter school
No
Virtual school
No

Related schools

Other schools in Huntsville City
Other schools in Huntsville
Nearby schools

Frequently asked questions

About Sonnie Hereford Elementary School
What is the total enrollment at Sonnie Hereford Elementary School?
Sonnie Hereford Elementary School enrolls approximately 578 students in grades PK-06.
What grades does Sonnie Hereford Elementary School serve?
Sonnie Hereford Elementary School serves grades PK-06.
How many teachers does Sonnie Hereford Elementary School have?
Sonnie Hereford Elementary School employs 31 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 18.6:1.
What is the student diversity at Sonnie Hereford Elementary School?
Student demographics at Sonnie Hereford Elementary School are roughly 6% White, 21% Hispanic, 62% Black, 1% Asian, 10% Two or more.
Who oversees Sonnie Hereford Elementary School?
Sonnie Hereford Elementary School is overseen by Huntsville City in Madison County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.
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