Summary:
Zip code 35097 is home to a single elementary school, Locust Fork Elementary, which serves grades PK through 6 and is part of the Blount County district.
For parents in this area, Locust Fork Elementary is a standout performer. The school earned a 5-star rating and ranked 57th out of 686 elementary schools in Alabama (92nd percentile) for the 2025-2026 school year, placing it in the top 8% statewide. This high achievement is consistent, with rankings in the 90th percentile or higher for the past three years. Academically, the school excels particularly in English Language Arts, with proficiency rates ranging from 71.93% in 6th grade to an impressive 88.73% in 5th grade—far exceeding district and state averages. In 5th-grade Mathematics, the school's proficiency rate of 84.51% is more than double the state average of 39.06%. The school also boasts a remarkably low chronic absenteeism rate of 4.0%, compared to the state's 12.0%, which likely contributes to its success.
One of the most notable findings is that Locust Fork Elementary achieves these exceptional results despite over half of its students (50.56%) qualifying for free or reduced lunch, a common indicator of socioeconomic need. The school consistently outperforms its own Blount County district by a wide margin—for example, in 4th-grade Mathematics, the school's proficiency rate is 77.61% versus the district's 52.67%. The school is also improving year-over-year, with proficiency rates increasing in nearly every subject and grade from 2024-2025 to 2025-2026. The only area of note is a dip in 6th-grade performance (53.45% in Math and 71.93% in English), which may indicate a transition-year challenge where additional support could be beneficial. Overall, this is a high-performing, continuously improving school that delivers outstanding results for its students.
Thank you for your feedback!