LEAD Academy

LEAD Academy is a small, two-school district in Montgomery, Alabama, serving 752 students from Pre-K through 10th grade, with both schools sharing a campus and a student population where roughly 78% qualify for free or reduced lunch.

LEAD Academy Building A (PK–3rd grade) is the district's stronger performer, with notably low chronic absenteeism at just 8.2%—well below the state average—and a favorable student-teacher ratio of 19.8:1. Its 3rd grade math proficiency (31.43%) is within 13 points of the state average, though English proficiency (38.57%) lags further behind and declined by 7 points year-over-year. In contrast, LEAD Academy Building B (4th–10th grade, alternative school) faces serious challenges: chronic absenteeism is 20%, the student-teacher ratio is a high 26.2:1, and math proficiency is critically low—just 3.45% in 6th grade and 2.99% in 7th grade, meaning roughly 97% of those students are not meeting math standards. The transition between buildings represents a dramatic shift in school climate and engagement.

Despite the low absolute numbers, Building B shows encouraging momentum. Year-over-year gains include a 9.34-point jump in 4th grade math, a 9.33-point rise in 4th grade English, and a 7.78-point improvement in 8th grade science. The school's 8th grade English proficiency (50%) is its closest subject to the state average (58.53%), a remarkable contrast to the same grade's 5% math proficiency. Building A's low absenteeism proves that economic disadvantage doesn't inevitably lead to disengagement, suggesting school-level factors are driving Building B's struggles. The district is at a critical juncture: maintaining these gains, tackling Building B's absenteeism crisis, reducing class sizes, and reversing Building A's English decline will determine whether these early improvements represent a genuine turnaround.