Best Elementary Schools in Zip Code 36726

Zip code 36726, encompassing the Camden, Alabama area, is home to just one elementary school, J E Hobbs Elementary School, which serves students from Pre-Kindergarten through 6th grade within the Wilcox County district.

For parents considering this school, the most important takeaway is that J E Hobbs Elementary School is a small, high-poverty school (80% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch) that shows dramatic inconsistency in academic performance from grade to grade. The standout finding is the remarkable turnaround in 4th grade math, which jumped from just 2.94% proficiency in 2024-2025 to an impressive 71.05% in 2025-2026—nearly 30 points above the state average. However, this success is not replicated across other grades: 5th grade math proficiency sits at a concerning 2.94%, and 6th grade math is only 6.12%. English performance is generally stronger than math across all grades, with 3rd grade English at 63.04% (close to the state's 64.75%), but 5th and 6th grade English lag significantly behind state averages. The school improved its overall state ranking from 617th to 534th out of roughly 680 schools, suggesting positive momentum, but the extreme grade-to-grade variability indicates that a student's experience depends heavily on which teacher they get.

Chronic absenteeism is a critical concern at 21.9%, nearly double the state average of 12.0%, which likely contributes to the academic struggles. The school's student-teacher ratio of 17.9:1 is reasonable, and per-student spending of $10,665 appears adequate, yet outcomes remain mixed. While the school generally outperforms its district in several areas, both the school and the Wilcox County district (ranked 126th out of 139 districts) face systemic challenges. The dramatic 4th grade math improvement demonstrates that progress is possible, and parents should ask the school about how that success was achieved and whether those strategies can be expanded to other grades. The biggest opportunities for improvement lie in addressing attendance and replicating the strongest grade-level teaching practices school-wide.