Summary:
Reform, Alabama is home to a single elementary school, Reform Elementary School, which serves students in Pre-Kindergarten through 4th grade within the Pickens County district, a small, high-poverty community where the school enrolls 174 students.
For parents, the most important takeaway is that Reform Elementary shows a clear split between early success and later struggles. The school’s 3rd-grade English scores have been above the state average for two straight years (75% and 62.5% proficiency), which is a genuine strength. However, this advantage disappears by 4th grade, where English proficiency drops to 47.37%—below the state average. The gap is even more dramatic in math: 3rd-grade math jumped to 43.75% proficiency in 2025-2026, while 4th-grade math languished at just 18.42%. This suggests the school does a good job with early literacy but loses momentum as students face more complex material. Science is the weakest area overall, with 4th-grade scores at 34.21% proficiency, still trailing the district (46.34%) and state (50.23%).
On a positive note, the school has a very low chronic absenteeism rate of 5.4%, far better than the district (10.1%) and state (12.0%), meaning students are consistently showing up to class. The student-teacher ratio is also favorable at 15.4:1, allowing for more individual attention. However, despite strong attendance and small class sizes, the school’s state ranking has fluctuated between the 23rd and 32nd percentile, earning a 1-star or 2-star rating. With 76.44% of students on free or reduced lunch, the school faces significant socioeconomic challenges. The volatile test scores year-to-year point to a need for a more stable, vertically-aligned curriculum, especially in math and science, to help students maintain their early gains as they move through the grades.
Thank you for your feedback!