Community

Florence B. Mathis Elementary School has undergone many transformations and is rich in history. Originally, Aaronville School was one of the first community elementary schools in Baldwin County in the 1940s. It was a one-building, one-room wooden structure that was on the corner of Michigan and Cedar Street in Foley, Alabama. In 1957 the school was moved South Cedar Street and consisted of four classrooms. Three additional classrooms were built in 1962, and in 1963, two additional classrooms were opened as well as the cafeteria in 1964. The school was named Aaronville High School, but it graduated only three classes in 1967, 1968, and 1969, and closed so our community could be integrated. Aaronville High School officially closed, the school campus was repurposed into Foley Middle School serving grades 7 and 8 until 1990, when it was repurposed again as Foley Intermediate School.

Our new campus is one block west of the former campus and was opened in August, 2020. Our school history has always served the Foley community; therefore, the focus of our current administration at Florence B. Mathis Elementary School has been increasing community partnerships and branching out to institutions of higher education in our state to inspire children for a successful future.

We begin every school year showing our appreciation to our partners with our Partners in Education Breakfast. Our faculty and staff plan, prepare, and cook for our partners to kick off our school year with a celebratory breakfast of joining us in educating children in our community. Our breakfast also gives us an opportunity to inform and collaborate so we can create a shared vision in preparing successful events throughout the school year such as Open House, Watch DOGS, the Amazing Shake, and our final event of the year, Career Day.

Florence B. Mathis Elementary School has adopted an inclusive model of STEAM education that is representative of our community. We are focused on creating a vision for our children's future.