Summary:
Empower Schools of Alabama is a single-school district in Bessemer, Alabama, serving grades 4 through 8 at Empower Community School Upper Campus, with 211 students enrolled.
This is the only middle school in the district, so all comparisons are against state averages. The school faces significant academic challenges, particularly in mathematics, where proficiency rates are critically low across every grade level—ranging from 0% in 5th grade to just 6.12% in 8th grade. This is a stark contrast to the state, where math proficiency ranges from 24% to 42%. English scores are notably stronger, with proficiency ranging from 26% in 6th grade to 43% in 5th grade, though still well below the state's 55% to 70% range. Science proficiency is roughly half the state average, with 4th grade at 26.67% and 8th grade at 22.45%.
The school's district ranking of 136th out of 139 in Alabama places it in the bottom 2% statewide. A high percentage of students (76.3%) qualify for free or reduced lunch, indicating a predominantly low-income population. Chronic absenteeism stands at 12.1%, slightly above the state average of 12.0%. The data shows no clear grade-level pattern—5th grade excels in English but struggles most in math, while 8th grade has the highest math scores but middling English results. This suggests performance is tied to specific student cohorts or instructional factors rather than systemic grade-level issues. For parents, the key takeaway is that while the school faces substantial hurdles, particularly in math, there is a relative strength in English that could serve as a foundation for improvement. The school's isolated status within its district means there are no peer schools for comparison, making state benchmarks the primary reference point.
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