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What's the biggest difference between Southside Elementary School and what you expected?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
585
Elementary
DISTRICT 367 · STATE 480
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·ETOWAH COUNTY·NCES 010138001509
Southside Elementary School
2551 Highway 77, Southside, AL 35907 · (256) 442-1090 · Etowah County
GRADES PK–05ELEMENTARY23-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL585 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
17.2:1
34 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 16.7:1 · STATE 17.0:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
32%
186 students
DISTRICT 51% · 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 | 45 | 8% |
| Kindergarten | 98 | 17% |
| Grade 1 | 76 | 13% |
| Grade 2 | 101 | 17% |
| Grade 3 | 89 | 15% |
| Grade 4 | 94 | 16% |
| Grade 5 | 82 | 14% |
This year's kindergarten class (98) is 20% larger than its 5th grade class (82).
Student demographics
24%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 30% · 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
84.0%
AL avg 52.7%
Math
57.0%
AL avg 31.8%
What this means: On the ACAP, Alabama's statewide test, about 84 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 57 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
69.2%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
60.8%
based on AL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+8.4pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 69% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 61% 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 Southside Elementary School
Southside Elementary School's state test result (69.2% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 3 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southside Elementary School this school | 585 | 31.8% | 69.2% |
| Kate D Smith DAR Elementary School Grant | 546 | 28.8% | N/A |
| Priceville Elementary School Priceville | 674 | 34.0% | 67.5% |
| East Elementary School Cullman | 466 | 32.2% | 82.6% |
| Bagley Elementary School Dora | 550 | 32.4% | 57.8% |
| Hayden Primary School Hayden | 530 | 36.0% | N/A |
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 Southside Elementary School ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In Alabama | In Etowah County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 69.2% | #90 of 626 | #3 of 20 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 57.0% | #136 of 626 | #5 of 20 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 84.0% | #60 of 626 | #2 of 20 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 585 | #191 of 709 | #4 of 21 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 17.2:1 | #358 of 655 | #11 of 20 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 24.0% | #538 of 658 | #17 of 20 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 31.8% | #632 of 696 | #20 of 20 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +6.6% | #170 of 262 | #7 of 9 |
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
585
+61 (+12%) vs 2020
-14% since 1990-91, when it was 677
Student : Teacher
17.2:1
was 15.9:1
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 | 585 | 34 | 17.2:1 | 32% (186) |
| 2023-24 | 566 | 32 | 17.7:1 | 43% (242) |
| 2022-23 | 570 | 33.3 | 17.1:1 | 43% (245) |
| 2020-21 | 524 | 33 | 15.9:1 | 31% (163) |
| 2017-18 | 549 | 33.2 | 16.5:1 | 32% (175) |
| 2015-16 | 534 | 34 | 15.7:1 | 33% (174) |
| 2010-11 | 647 | 41 | 15.8:1 | 28% (180) |
| 2000-01 | 556 | 31 | 17.9:1 | 21% (117) |
| 1990-91 | 677 | 33 | 20.5:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Southside Elementary School.
Since 2017-18: students up 7% (549 to 585); teachers up 2% (33.2 to 34).
About Southside Elementary School
Southside Elementary School is a public elementary school run by Etowah County in Southside, Alabama. It covers pre-K through 5, with a total enrollment of 585 students. Enrollment is 22% higher than the average for elementary schools in Alabama, which is about 480.
Etowah County serves 8,739 students across 22 schools.
Federal enrollment data show Southside Elementary School is 87% White. Other groups make up 5% multiracial and 5% Hispanic. Etowah County as a whole is about 77% White, so the school's share is higher. Pick two students at random and there is a 24% chance they belong to different racial or ethnic groups; that figure is the school's diversity index.
Staffing totals 34 full-time-equivalent teachers, and the student-to-teacher ratio is 17.2:1. For comparison, elementary schools in Alabama average 17.0:1. A measure often used for student poverty, free or reduced-price lunch eligibility, stands at 32%. The average for public schools in Etowah County is 58%.
Schools in Alabama with a similar free or reduced-price lunch share are predicted to score about 60.8%. Southside Elementary School scores 69.2%.
Census Bureau estimates for Etowah County show that the median household income is $54,563, roughly 18% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 12%. There are 42 public schools in Etowah County, enrolling about 15,139 students in all.
The shortest distance from Southside Elementary School to another public school is about 0.8 miles, to Southside High School. Other public schools within five miles: 4. The nearest schools with test data average 46.8%, lower than Southside Elementary School's 69.2%.
Federal records code the school's setting as Suburb: Small.
Compared with 2020-21, the school had 61 more students in 2024-25. By 2024-25, the school had 17.2 students per teacher, compared with 15.9 in 2020-21.
Discussion on this page can cover school events, clubs, and volunteer needs. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
Etowah County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
103,105
Census ACS
Median income
$54,563
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
18%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
12%
Below federal line
Schools in county
42
15,139 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Etowah County
- Southside High SchoolHigh · 825 students
- John S Jones Elementary SchoolElementary · 745 students
- Rainbow Middle SchoolMiddle · 634 students
- Hokes Bluff Elementary SchoolElementary · 610 students
- Sardis High SchoolHigh · 546 students
- Whitesboro Elementary SchoolElementary · 423 students
Other Southside Elementary schools
32 other US public schools in 20 states are named Southside Elementary. Southside Elementary School is the 12th largest of the 33.
- Southside Elementary SchoolCLEVELAND, TX · 1,016 students
- Southside Elementary SchoolColumbus, IN · 891 students
- SOUTHSIDE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLSOUTHSIDE, AR · 852 students
- Southside ElementaryLebanon, TN · 806 students
- SOUTHSIDE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLBUFFALO, NY · 772 students
Nearby schools
- Southside High School0.8 mi · 825
- John S Jones Elementary School3.0 mi · 745
- Rainbow Middle School3.2 mi · 634
- Eura Brown Elementary School4.0 mi · 340
- Gadsden City High School5.5 mi · 1,361
- Glencoe Elementary School5.8 mi · 397
Frequently asked questions
About Southside Elementary SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Southside Elementary School?
Southside Elementary School enrolls approximately 585 students in grades PK-05.
What age range does Southside Elementary School serve?
Southside Elementary School serves students from grade PK through grade 05.
How many students per teacher at Southside Elementary School?
Approximately 17.2:1 students per teacher at Southside Elementary School.
What is the student diversity at Southside Elementary School?
Student demographics at Southside Elementary School are roughly 87% White, 5% Hispanic, 1% Black, 1% Asian, 5% Two or more.
Is Southside Elementary School public or private?
Southside Elementary School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Etowah County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.