Central Elementary, 1510 Dinah Washington Ave.: pre-K to fifth grade, 259 students on the 2024-25 state report card, graded B with 86 points.
Last checked Oct. 17, 2026. Sources: the school’s website and principal’s page; Tuscaloosa City Schools’ schools directory, zoning map and feeder patterns; the district’s 2026-27 calendar; the Alabama State Department of Education’s state report card for 2024-25; and the federal NCES school directory for 2023-24.
Central Elementary sits on Dinah Washington Avenue in west Tuscaloosa, next door to Westlawn Middle, the school its students move on to. It teaches pre-K through fifth grade and is one of four elementary schools in the Central High zone. Alabama graded it a B, with 86 points, on its 2024-25 report card, up nine points in a year.
Who to call
- Front office: 205-759-3570, 1510 Dinah Washington Ave.
- School website: centralelementary.tuscaloosacityschools.com
- Enrolling a new student: online registration through PowerSchool, linked from the district’s enrollment page. Central Office: 205-759-3700, 1210 Almon Ave.
- Which school is my address zoned for? the district’s zoning map, or Student Services at 205-759-3502
- Buses: the district’s Transportation Department, 205-247-2400
| Address | 1510 Dinah Washington Ave., Tuscaloosa, AL 35401 |
| Phone | 205-759-3570 |
| Grades | Pre-K to 5 |
| District | Tuscaloosa City Schools |
| Goes on to | Westlawn Middle, then Central High |
| State school code | 200-0030 |
Principal
Principal Cynthia Miller Huff, according to the school’s principal’s page.
Enrollment and teachers
- State count: 259 students on the 2024-25 Alabama state report card, up from 250 a year earlier.
- Federal count: 301 students in the 2023-24 school year, with 19 full-time-equivalent teachers, according to the NCES directory. That is about 16 students per teacher.
The two counts are taken at different times and by different rules, so they do not match.
State report card
Alabama grades every public school from A to F each year. The grade comes from a 100-point score built from students’ achievement and growth on state tests in English language arts and math, chronic absenteeism (the share of students who missed 18 or more days) and progress in English language proficiency, according to the Alabama State Department of Education’s report card rules.
2024-25 grade: B, 86 points, up from a C and 77 points on the 2023-24 card. That matches the score for Tuscaloosa City Schools as a whole, a B with 86 points.
| Indicator | 2023-24 | 2024-25 |
|---|---|---|
| Academic achievement (ELA and math tests) | 50.28 | 64.94 |
| Academic growth | 96.81 | 100 |
| Chronic absenteeism (lower is better) | 8.68% | 1.01% |
| Progress in English language proficiency | not scored | 60% |
Central Elementary’s full report card, with results by student group, teachers and spending, is on the state’s report card site. The card lists it as a schoolwide Title I school.
Attendance zone
Check an address with the district’s zoning map: type the address, click the blue box on it and the map shows the elementary, middle and high school zones. Zones do not follow the city limits.
In the district’s feeder patterns, Central Elementary is one of four elementary schools in the Central High zone, with Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary, Oakdale and University Place. Its students go on to Westlawn Middle and then Central High.
Families can also apply for the district’s specialty schools, which take students from every zone: Tuscaloosa Magnet Schools-Elementary for grades 1 to 5, and the middle grades at The Alberta School of Performing Arts and Tuscaloosa Magnet Schools-Middle, according to the district’s specialty schools page.
Calendar
Central Elementary follows Tuscaloosa City Schools’ 2026-27 calendar (district calendars are on its calendar page). Coming dates:
- Wednesday, Nov. 11: Veterans Day, schools closed
- Nov. 23-27: fall break and Thanksgiving holidays, schools closed
- Friday, Dec. 18: half day for students, end of the first semester
- Dec. 21 to Jan. 1: winter holidays, schools closed; students return Wednesday, Jan. 6
On scheduled half days, elementary schools dismiss at 11:30 a.m., the calendar says. The district does not publish daily bell times on its website; call the front office for start and dismissal times.
More
- The district’s schools directory, with every school’s address and phone
- Every public school in Tuscaloosa, with zones and report cards
- Our Tuscaloosa schools guide for the district calendar, enrollment and the school board
Frequently asked questions
What grades does Central Elementary serve?
Pre-K through fifth grade, according to the school and the Alabama state report card.
What is Central Elementary’s state report card grade?
Central Elementary earned a B, with 86 points, on Alabama’s 2024-25 state report card, up from a C and 77 points a year earlier.
Which middle and high school does Central Elementary feed into?
Westlawn Middle, then Central High, according to the district’s feeder patterns.
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