Walter Jackson Elementary School

Summary:

Walter Jackson Elementary School is a public elementary school in Decatur, Alabama, serving 244 students from kindergarten to 5th grade. The school is part of the Decatur City School District, which is ranked 92 out of 137 school districts in the state and has a 2-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Walter Jackson Elementary School stands out for its diverse student population, with higher percentages of African American (27.87%) and Hispanic (15.98%) students compared to nearby schools. The school's academic performance is generally higher than the district and state averages, particularly in English/Language Arts, with 70% of 4th-grade students proficient or better on the Summative Assessment, compared to 50.08% for Decatur City and 58% for Alabama. The school has also performed well for certain student subgroups, such as Special Education and Low Socio-Economic Status (SES) students, ranking among the top schools in the state. However, the school's performance for African American students has been relatively lower.

While Walter Jackson Elementary School outperforms many of the nearby schools in the Decatur City School District, it is worth noting that some schools, such as Leon Sheffield Magnet Elementary School, have significantly outperformed it, ranking in the top 5% of Alabama elementary schools. The high percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch at Walter Jackson Elementary School, ranging from 62.55% to 73.36% over the past three school years, suggests that the school serves a relatively low-income population, which may contribute to some of the academic challenges faced by the school. The changing racial makeup of the student population, with a decreasing percentage of White students and increasing percentages of African American and Hispanic students, may also be a factor in the observed achievement gaps between different racial groups.


Detail:

Public K-5

 1950 Park St SE
       Decatur, AL  35601-5262


(256) 552-3031

District: Decatur City

SchoolDigger Rank:
272nd of 684 Alabama Elementary Schools


Students who attend Walter Jackson Elementary School usually attend:

Middle:    Decatur Middle School
High:    Decatur High School

Student/teacher ratio:  14.4 Help
Number of students:  244

Racial breakdown:

White:
48.0%
African American:
27.9%
Hispanic:
16.0%
more

Free/discounted lunch recipients:  73.4% Help


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Performance Trends
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Compare Details Walter Jackson Elementary School ranks better than 60.2% of elementary schools in Alabama. It also ranks 3rd among 11 ranked elementary schools in the Decatur City School District. (See more...)
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Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 59.78. (See more...)
Student Body
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Compare Details Walter Jackson Elementary School has the smallest elementary school student body size in the Decatur City School District. Student population at Walter Jackson Elementary School is diverse. Racial makeup is: White (48%), African American (27.9%), Hispanic (16%). (See more...)
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Compare Details 73.4% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)
Teachers
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Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Walter Jackson Elementary School is 14.4, which is the lowest among 12 elementary schools in the Decatur City School District! (See more...)
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Compare Walter Jackson Elementary School employs 16.8 full-time teachers.
Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Walter Jackson Elementary School:

SchoolDigger ranks Walter Jackson Elementary School 272nd of 684 Alabama public elementary schools. (See Walter Jackson Elementary School in the ranking list.)

Elementary School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:


Low Socio Economic Status students:
Female students:
Male students:
White students:


Decatur City:

SchoolDigger ranks Decatur City 92nd of 137 Alabama school districts. (See district ranking list.)


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Rank History for Walter Jackson Elementary School

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Rank History for all students at Walter Jackson Elementary School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools AL State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2004 69.55 157th 623 74.8%
2005 56.18 306th 688 55.5%
2006 65.88 206th 689 70.1%
2007 71.05 179th 698 74.4%
2008 77.45 102nd 698 85.4%
2009 83.74 48th 696 93.1%
2010 73.48 145th 704 79.4%
2011 66.17 242nd 709 65.9%
2012 79.98 64th 696 90.8%
2013 72.09 141st 696 79.7%
2014 77.14 113th 695 83.7%
2015 75.47 143rd 691 79.3%
2016 85.89 75th 691 89.1%
2017 82.12 102nd 688 85.2%
2018 75.92 155th 680 77.2%
2019 69.83 177th 681 74.0%
2021 81.83 91st 692 86.8%
2022 81.49 103rd 687 85.0%
2023 65.81 222nd 680 67.4%
2024 59.78 272nd 684 60.2%
See the entire list of Alabama Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for Special Education students at Walter Jackson Elementary School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools AL State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2017 86.08 16th 280 94.3%
2018 86.34 20th 344 94.2%
See the entire list of Best Alabama Elementary Schools for Special Education Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Walter Jackson Elementary School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools AL State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2017 80.85 57th 567 89.9%
2018 75.41 115th 651 82.3%
2019 66.39 176th 649 72.9%
2021 81.20 73rd 653 88.8%
2022 85.42 46th 651 92.9%
2023 65.73 185th 623 70.3%
2024 62.31 250th 670 62.7%
See the entire list of Best Alabama Elementary Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Female students at Walter Jackson Elementary School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools AL State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2017 83.93 76th 639 88.1%
2018 60.10 268th 640 58.1%
2019 59.48 248th 646 61.6%
2021 82.14 86th 656 86.9%
2022 73.03 144th 656 78.0%
2023 52.33 307th 645 52.4%
2024 62.52 225th 650 65.4%
See the entire list of Best Alabama Elementary Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Male students at Walter Jackson Elementary School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools AL State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2017 74.13 134th 639 79.0%
2018 82.12 94th 650 85.5%
2019 75.25 126th 650 80.6%
2021 78.17 108th 669 83.9%
2022 81.08 98th 669 85.4%
2023 71.62 162nd 649 75.0%
2024 65.22 209th 655 68.1%
See the entire list of Best Alabama Elementary Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for African American students at Walter Jackson Elementary School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools AL State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2017 56.91 110th 336 67.3%
2018 50.38 201st 423 52.5%
2019 41.88 237th 426 44.4%
See the entire list of Best Alabama Elementary Schools for African American Students!

Rank History for White students at Walter Jackson Elementary School

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools AL State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2017 79.83 59th 369 84.0%
2018 80.22 81st 508 84.1%
2019 70.10 126th 529 76.2%
2021 82.67 73rd 539 86.5%
2022 72.42 122nd 540 77.4%
2023 58.74 199th 528 62.3%
2024 69.52 143rd 535 73.3%
See the entire list of Best Alabama Elementary Schools for White Students!

Data source: test scores: Alabama State Department of Education, rankings: SchoolDigger.com

As you review the school rankings data, please be aware that some of the information from certain demographics is missing. The reason for this omission is that the data has been redacted from the source data itself due to low population samples in these specific demographic groups.

Redacting data from low population samples is a necessary step to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the results, as small sample sizes may not be representative of the broader population. Additionally, this measure helps protect the privacy of individuals belonging to these demographic groups.

Walter Jackson Elementary School Test Scores
Tests: 
  
Grades: 
  
Years: 
  
Group by: 
District Scores:
State Scores:    
  
Subgroup: 





Data source: Alabama State Department of Education

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Enrollment information for Walter Jackson Elementary School

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Year White African American Asian Hispanic American Indian Pacific Islander Two or More Races Not Specified Total
1988 0 0 0 0 0 n/a n/a 294 294
1989 229 64 0 1 0 n/a n/a 0 294
1990 230 67 0 1 0 n/a n/a 0 298
1991 241 64 1 0 1 n/a n/a 0 307
1992 252 60 1 1 0 n/a n/a 0 314
1993 245 65 1 0 0 n/a n/a 0 311
1994 233 64 1 1 1 n/a n/a 0 300
1995 224 51 1 2 0 n/a n/a 0 278
1996 224 51 1 2 0 n/a n/a 0 278
1997 210 47 2 2 0 n/a n/a 0 261
1998 187 56 0 2 0 n/a n/a 0 245
1999 155 44 1 2 0 n/a n/a 0 202
2000 142 50 1 2 2 n/a n/a 0 197
2001 155 51 1 6 1 n/a n/a 0 214
2002 164 40 1 1 1 n/a n/a 0 207
2003 164 40 1 1 1 n/a n/a 0 207
2004 177 40 2 5 1 n/a n/a 1 226
2005 164 41 1 5 1 n/a n/a 0 212
2006 178 40 2 9 0 n/a n/a 1 230
2007 186 41 1 7 0 n/a n/a 3 238
2008 178 35 1 13 2 n/a n/a 0 229
2009 190 38 6 20 0 n/a n/a 0 254
2010 175 46 1 23 0 n/a n/a 2 247
2012 161 59 4 20 0 0 11 0 255
2013 160 58 4 24 1 0 17 0 264
2014 167 49 3 18 1 0 29 0 267
2015 176 65 2 21 3 0 28 0 295
2016 183 46 1 34 3 0 30 0 297
2017 170 58 1 35 2 0 28 0 294
2018 157 65 1 31 2 0 30 0 286
2019 145 70 2 41 1 0 29 0 288
2020 165 56 1 40 1 0 33 0 296
2021 149 53 3 38 0 1 21 0 265
2022 132 55 3 36 1 1 15 0 243
2023 117 68 3 39 1 0 16 0 244

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Enrollment/Ethnicity

For more information about how the Department of Education defines ethnicity, see Defining Race and Ethnicity Data, National Center for Education Statistics

Students eligible for free or discounted lunch at Walter Jackson Elementary School

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1988 294 18.0 16.3 0
1989 294 19.0 15.4 n/a
1990 298 19.0 15.6 0
1991 307 20.0 15.3 n/a
1992 314 19.0 16.5 n/a
1993 311 19.0 16.4 n/a
1994 300 18.0 16.7 n/a
1995 278 18.0 15.4 n/a
1996 278 18.0 15.4 n/a
1997 261 17.0 15.4 26.1
1998 245 16.0 15.3 33.5
1999 202 16.0 12.6 35.6
2000 197 18.0 10.9 41.6
2001 214 15.0 14.3 34.1
2002 207 17.0 12.2 33.8
2003 207 17.0 12.2 33.8
2004 226 17.0 13.3 35.6
2005 212 18.0 11.8 36.8
2006 230 18.0 12.7 35.8
2007 238 19.3 12.3 38.7
2008 229 19.0 12.1 41.5
2009 254 17.8 14.1 40.9
2010 247 17.8 13.8 48.6
2012 255 20.0 12.7 54.5
2013 264 22.5 11.7 54.9
2014 267 20.1 13.2 55.4
2015 295 18.0 16.3 57.6
2016 297 19.0 15.6 57.9
2017 294 18.8 15.6 55.1
2018 286 18.3 15.6 59.1
2019 288 18.8 15.2 61.8
2020 296 18.8 15.7 63.2
2021 265 18.8 14.0 62.6
2022 243 17.8 13.6 62.6
2023 244 16.8 14.4 73.4

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Students eligible for discounted/free lunch:

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides low-cost or free meals to students in U.S. public and nonprofit private schools based on household income. Those with incomes below 130% of the poverty line receive free lunch, while those between 130% and 185% qualify for reduced-price lunch. The percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch serves as a marker for poverty, as it reflects the socioeconomic status of families in a given school or district. A higher FRPL rate typically indicates a higher concentration of low-income families, suggesting that the school or district may face additional challenges in providing adequate resources and support for student success.

Student/Teacher Ratio Walter Jackson Elementary School

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1988 294 18.0 16.3 0
1989 294 19.0 15.4 n/a
1990 298 19.0 15.6 0
1991 307 20.0 15.3 n/a
1992 314 19.0 16.5 n/a
1993 311 19.0 16.4 n/a
1994 300 18.0 16.7 n/a
1995 278 18.0 15.4 n/a
1996 278 18.0 15.4 n/a
1997 261 17.0 15.4 26.1
1998 245 16.0 15.3 33.5
1999 202 16.0 12.6 35.6
2000 197 18.0 10.9 41.6
2001 214 15.0 14.3 34.1
2002 207 17.0 12.2 33.8
2003 207 17.0 12.2 33.8
2004 226 17.0 13.3 35.6
2005 212 18.0 11.8 36.8
2006 230 18.0 12.7 35.8
2007 238 19.3 12.3 38.7
2008 229 19.0 12.1 41.5
2009 254 17.8 14.1 40.9
2010 247 17.8 13.8 48.6
2012 255 20.0 12.7 54.5
2013 264 22.5 11.7 54.9
2014 267 20.1 13.2 55.4
2015 295 18.0 16.3 57.6
2016 297 19.0 15.6 57.9
2017 294 18.8 15.6 55.1
2018 286 18.3 15.6 59.1
2019 288 18.8 15.2 61.8
2020 296 18.8 15.7 63.2
2021 265 18.8 14.0 62.6
2022 243 17.8 13.6 62.6
2023 244 16.8 14.4 73.4

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Student-Teacher Ratio

Student/teacher ratio is calculated by dividing the total number of students by the total number of full-time equivalent teachers. Please note that a smaller student/teacher ratio does not necessarily translate to smaller class size. In some instances, schools hire teachers part time, and some teachers are hired for specialized instruction with very small class sizes. These and other factors contribute to the student/teacher ratio. Note: For private schools, Student/teacher ratio may not include Pre-Kindergarten.
Pre and Post Pandemic Data

Impact of COVID-19 on Walter Jackson Elementary School

The coronavirus has had a profound impact on education in America. Learning shifted online overnight, attendance numbers dwindled, and enrollment decreased. SchoolDigger.com is making it easier for you to better assess how COVID-19 has impacted your school. Through the collection of pre-pandemic (2019) and current data, SchoolDigger.com is sharing test scores, enrollment numbers and school demographics from schools across the country – and we make it easy to see how impacted schools compare locally and statewide.

Rankings

Rank
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Rank
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Ranks 177th of 681 Elementary schoolsRanks 222nd of 680 Elementary schools
 6.7%

Test Scores

% proficient
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
% proficient
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
3rd Grade Mathematics (Walter Jackson Elementary School)86.356
 30.3%
   3rd Grade Mathematics (Decatur City)60.238.4
 21.8%
   3rd Grade Mathematics (Alabama)57.543.6
 13.9%
4th Grade Mathematics (Walter Jackson Elementary School)53.754.2
 0.5%
   4th Grade Mathematics (Decatur City)45.935.1
 10.9%
   4th Grade Mathematics (Alabama)47.334.9
 12.4%
5th Grade Mathematics (Walter Jackson Elementary School)66.741
 25.6%
   5th Grade Mathematics (Decatur City)46.332.3
 14%
   5th Grade Mathematics (Alabama)44.933.9
 10.9%

Student Body

Number of students
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Number of students
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Total Students288244
 15.3%
African American7068
 2.9%
American Indian11
Asian23
 50%
Hispanic4139
 4.9%
Pacific Islander00
White145117
 19.3%
Two or More Races2916
 44.8%
% Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients61.8%73.4%
 11.6%


Schools Near Walter Jackson Elementary School









Frequently Asked Questions about Walter Jackson Elementary School

In the 2022-23 school year, 244 students attended Walter Jackson Elementary School.

Students who attend Walter Jackson Elementary School usually go on to attend:

Middle : Decatur Middle School
High : Decatur High School

Walter Jackson Elementary School ranks 272nd of 684 Alabama elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 3 stars out of 5.

Students at Walter Jackson Elementary School are 48% White, 28% African American, 16% Hispanic, 7% Two or more races, 1% Asian.


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SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Alabama State Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.





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