Summary:
Zip code 35444 is home to just one elementary school, Brookwood Elementary School, which serves students from Pre-Kindergarten through 5th grade in the rural community of Brookwood, AL, operating within the Tuscaloosa County school district.
For parents considering this school, the standout feature is a remarkable upward trend in academic performance as students advance through the grades. While 3rd grade math proficiency (27.83%) trails the district average, the school shows dramatic improvement by 5th grade, where math proficiency reaches an impressive 52.81%—a full 23 points above the district average and nearly 14 points above the state. Similarly, English proficiency climbs from 50.43% in 3rd grade to 68.54% in 5th grade, nearly matching the state average. The school also excels in 4th grade science, with 59.29% proficiency, outpacing the district by nearly 17 points. This consistent pattern suggests effective instruction and intervention programs that compound over time, though the 22-point year-over-year swing in 5th grade math scores (from 30.86% to 52.81%) indicates some volatility that parents may want to monitor.
Brookwood Elementary serves a majority low-income population, with 55.94% of students receiving free or reduced lunch, yet still achieves near-state-average results in several upper-grade subjects. The school's chronic absenteeism rate of 12.7% is slightly above both district and state averages, and its state ranking has slipped modestly from the 52nd percentile (3 stars) in 2023-2024 to the 49th percentile (2 stars) in 2025-2026. With a student-teacher ratio of 20.1:1 and per-student spending of $9,543, the school operates with typical resource levels for Alabama, making its strong upper-grade performance particularly noteworthy. Overall, this is a school where students appear to gain academic momentum as they progress, making it a solid choice for families planning to stay through 5th grade.
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