Summary:
Zip code 35453 is home to just one elementary school, Cottondale Elementary School, a public school serving grades PK through 5 with 438 students in the Tuscaloosa County district.
For parents considering this area, the most important takeaway is that Cottondale Elementary is facing a serious and accelerating academic decline. The school's state ranking has plummeted from the 21st percentile in 2023-2024 to just the 7th percentile in 2025-2026, meaning it now ranks 639th out of 686 elementary schools in Alabama. This is not a case of static underperformance—the situation is actively worsening. Academically, the school trails its district and state averages in every subject and grade level. Mathematics is the most severe weakness, with only 6.15% of 5th graders proficient in math, compared to the state average of 39.06%. Even the strongest subject, English, shows 5th-grade proficiency at 46.88%, still nearly 23 points below the state average. The school serves a predominantly economically disadvantaged population, with 70.55% of students eligible for free or reduced lunch, which provides important context for these challenges.
There is one notable bright spot: chronic absenteeism is actually better than average. At 9.7%, Cottondale's chronic absenteeism rate is lower than both the district (11.8%) and state (12.0%) averages, suggesting that attendance is not the primary driver of low test scores. This points instead to potential issues with instructional quality, curriculum, or student support services. Parents should also note that per-student spending data is outdated (from 2018-2019 at $9,707), making it difficult to assess current resource allocation. Given the rapid decline in rankings and the severe math proficiency gaps, families considering this school should investigate current school leadership, recent curriculum changes, and available intervention programs to understand what is being done to reverse this trend.
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