Summary:
Dothan, Alabama is home to two public middle schools within the Dothan City school district, serving grades 6 through 8 and enrolling roughly 1,500 students in a mid-sized city environment.
For parents, the most important takeaway is that Dothan Preparatory Academy (grades 7-8) is the stronger of the two schools academically, though both face significant challenges. In the most recent testing, Dothan Preparatory’s 8th graders posted a 48.32% proficiency rate in English and 43.55% in science, while its 7th graders reached 45.82% in English. By contrast, Dothan 6th Grade Center (grade 6 only) saw just 36.15% proficiency in English and a startling 5.87% in math. Math is a district-wide crisis: Dothan Preparatory’s 7th and 8th graders scored only 10.62% and 10.11% proficiency, respectively, compared to state averages of 24-26%. This means a student entering 6th grade at the 6th Grade Center is far behind state norms, and that gap does not close by 8th grade.
Both schools also struggle with attendance and poverty. Chronic absenteeism is 23.7% at Dothan Preparatory and 18.2% at the 6th Grade Center, both well above the 12% state average. Over 70% of students at each school qualify for free/reduced lunch, with the 6th Grade Center slightly higher at 78.62%. The 6th Grade Center also has a larger student-teacher ratio (19.5:1) than Dothan Preparatory (18.4:1). On a positive note, Dothan Preparatory showed strong year-over-year improvement in 2025-2026, with 8th-grade science jumping from 27.56% to 43.55% and English from 38.76% to 48.32%. This suggests recent initiatives may be working, but the math deficiency and high absenteeism remain urgent priorities for the district.
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