Summary:
The Madison City school district in Alabama is home to seven elementary schools serving grades K-5 (with Mill Creek also offering Pre-K), enrolling approximately 5,527 students in a highly ranked district that sits at #11 out of 139 districts statewide with a 5-star rating.
For parents, the standout school is Heritage Elementary School, which consistently posts the strongest academic results in the district—it ranked #21 in Alabama in 2024-2025, boasts the highest 4th and 5th grade math proficiency scores, and has the lowest chronic absenteeism rate (4.3%) alongside the lowest per-student spending ($9,498). At the other end of the spectrum, Horizon Elementary School has experienced a dramatic decline, falling from #44 to #110 in state rankings over two years, with 3rd grade math proficiency dropping from 63.89% to 45%—despite having the district's lowest absenteeism rate (4.1%) and second-lowest student-teacher ratio. Meanwhile, MidTown Elementary School is the largest school (1,097 students) with the highest free/reduced lunch rate (28.9%) and highest student-teacher ratio (17.4:1), yet it showed the most improvement in 5th grade math, jumping from 52.22% to 65.22% proficiency.
Across the district, every school exceeds state averages in English proficiency at all grade levels by substantial margins—5th grade English ranges from 81.82% at Columbia Elementary School to 92.04% at Horizon. The 3rd grade math gap is striking: Rainbow Elementary School posts 83.33% proficiency while Horizon manages just 45%. Interestingly, chronic absenteeism doesn't predict performance—Rainbow has the highest absenteeism rate (8.7%) yet ranks in the 92nd percentile, while Madison Elementary School and Mill Creek Elementary School sit in the middle of the pack. All seven schools rank in the top 16% of Alabama elementary schools, making this a consistently strong district where even the "lowest" performer would be considered excellent elsewhere.
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