Jemison Intermediate School

Jemison Intermediate School serves 468 students in grades 4 through 6 in the rural community of Jemison, Alabama, as part of the Chilton County school district.

One of the most encouraging stories at Jemison Intermediate is the dramatic improvement in attendance. Chronic absenteeism has fallen from 17.2% in 2021-2022 to just 8.1% today—a reduction of more than half. The school now outperforms both its district (8.3%) and the state average (12.0%), showing that focused efforts on getting kids to school are working. In English Language Arts, the school shows solid results, with 5th graders reaching 62.26% proficiency—nearly matching the district and approaching the state average. Science scores are also trending upward, with 4th grade proficiency climbing steadily from 28.38% to 33.73% over three years.

However, mathematics remains a significant challenge. Only 16.87% of 4th graders, 13.84% of 5th graders, and 18.06% of 6th graders scored proficient in math—roughly half the district averages and far below state levels. This gap is especially striking when compared to Clanton Intermediate School, located just 13 miles away in the same district with a similar student population. Clanton's 4th grade math proficiency is 39.89% compared to Jemison's 16.87%—a 23-point difference. The school also has a higher student-to-teacher ratio (23.4:1) than all comparable schools, and per-student spending is lower than neighboring districts like Shelby County. These struggles appear to carry forward, as Jemison Middle School shows declining performance with 7th grade math proficiency at just 7.93%. The school's success in reducing absenteeism demonstrates that meaningful change is possible, and applying that same focus to math instruction could yield significant improvements.