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What tradition at Walter M Kennedy School should never be changed?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
437
Elementary
DISTRICT 337 · STATE 480
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PELL CITY·NCES 010265001722
Walter M Kennedy School
250 Otis Perry Dr, Pell City, AL 35128 · (205) 338-7896 · St. Clair County
GRADES KG–04ELEMENTARY32-TOWNTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL437 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
17.5:1
25 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.5:1 · STATE 17.0:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
61%
268 students
DISTRICT 64% · STATE 58%
Community
4
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade
Student demographics
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. 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
70.5%
AL avg 52.7%
Math
57.4%
AL avg 31.8%
What this means: On the ACAP, Alabama's statewide test, about 71 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
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of AL schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
62.2%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
39.4%
based on AL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+22.8pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 62% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 39% typical for Alabama schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations ranks schools against others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school can post high scores and still fall short of its prediction, or post lower scores and still beat it. This school clears its prediction by about 23 points, placing it in Alabama's top 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
7-year change
SY 2017-18 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
437
-56 (-11%) vs 2017
Student : Teacher
17.5:1
was 16.7:1
% White
74%
was 77%
% Hispanic
2%
was 3%
% Black
17%
was 17%
% Asian
1%
was 0%
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
About Walter M Kennedy School
As an average-sized elementary school in Pell City, Alabama, Walter M Kennedy School educates 437 students from grades K through 4, run under Pell City.
Pell City comprises 8 schools with combined enrollment of 4,079 students; Walter M Kennedy School is among them.
On the student-mix side, Walter M Kennedy School records that White students make up the majority at 74%. Other groups include 17% Black, 5% multiracial, 2% Hispanic. That is visibly less White than the county at large, where the share is closer to 84%.
On the resource side, Walter M Kennedy School lists 25 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 17.5:1. The state averages about 17.0:1, putting this campus right in line with peers. Roughly 61% of students at Walter M Kennedy School qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. That share is higher than St. Clair County's rate of about 49%.
On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Walter M Kennedy School is in the OUTPERFORMING tier of the BeatsExpectations model, which fits a per-state line through proficiency and FRL share. Schools with this campus's poverty mix typically land near 39.4%; this one delivers 62.2%, a residual of +22.8 points.
Around the school, the surrounding county (St. Clair County) records that median household income runs about $77,463, about 21% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and the poverty rate sits near 8%. In all, St. Clair County runs 29 public schools (combined enrollment of about 13,737 students), of which Walter M Kennedy School is one.
The closest other public school is Williams Intermediate School, roughly 0.6 miles away. Counting just inside five miles, 7 other public schools cluster around Walter M Kennedy School. Among the 7 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Walter M Kennedy School ranks 1st on composite proficiency, ahead of the local average of 34.8%.
The school occupies a small-town site.
Over the past 7-year window. Walter M Kennedy School's enrollment has edged down 11% since 2018, when it stood at 493 (now 437).
Within the allk12 community for this school, recent activity here tends to focus on open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
St. Clair County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
94,166
Census ACS
Median income
$77,463
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
21%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
8%
Below federal line
Schools in county
29
13,737 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Pell City
- Pell City High SchoolHigh · 1,193 students
- Duran Junior High SchoolMiddle · 601 students
- Williams Intermediate SchoolMiddle · 598 students
- Coosa Valley Elementary SchoolElementary · 404 students
- Iola Roberts Elementary SchoolElementary · 402 students
- Eden Elementary SchoolElementary · 346 students
Other schools in Pell City
- Pell City High SchoolHigh · 1,193 students
- Duran Junior High SchoolMiddle · 601 students
- Williams Intermediate SchoolMiddle · 598 students
- Iola Roberts Elementary SchoolElementary · 402 students
- Eden Elementary SchoolElementary · 346 students
- Legacy CenterElementary · 98 students
Nearby schools
- Williams Intermediate School0.6 mi · 598
- Legacy Center1.3 mi · 98
- Coosa Valley Elementary School1.6 mi · 404
- Duran Junior High School1.9 mi · 601
- Pell City High School1.9 mi · 1,193
- Iola Roberts Elementary School2.5 mi · 402
Frequently asked questions
About Walter M Kennedy SchoolHow many students attend Walter M Kennedy School?
Walter M Kennedy School enrolls approximately 437 students in grades KG-04.
What grades does Walter M Kennedy School serve?
Walter M Kennedy School serves grades KG-04.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Walter M Kennedy School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Walter M Kennedy School is approximately 17.5:1 (25 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Walter M Kennedy School?
At Walter M Kennedy School, the student body is approximately 74% White, 2% Hispanic, 17% Black, 1% Asian, 5% Two or more.
Is Walter M Kennedy School public or private?
Walter M Kennedy School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Pell City.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.