Summary:
The city of Double Springs, Alabama, is served by three public schools within the Winston County district, educating roughly 810 students from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade in a predominantly rural, low-income area.
For parents, the standout school is Winston County High School, which consistently ranks highest in the district and boasts an impressive 96% graduation rate, well above the state average. It also shows a notable strength in 8th grade science, where proficiency is about 10 points higher than the state norm. However, this high school has a concerning chronic absenteeism rate of 16.9%, more than double that of Double Springs Middle School, which has the district's best attendance at just 6.9%. The middle school is also the most improved, jumping 59 spots in state ranking in a single year, despite spending the least per student. In contrast, Double Springs Elementary School is the district's weakest performer, with its 4th grade English and science scores falling significantly below state averages.
A key takeaway is a troubling math trajectory: proficiency declines as students advance, from roughly 42-50% in elementary grades down to just 15-23% in high school. This suggests a need for stronger math intervention and curriculum alignment. Additionally, the elementary school shows a sharp drop in English proficiency between 3rd and 4th grade, indicating a possible transition issue. While the district faces economic challenges with over half of students on free/reduced lunch, it still achieves a 3-star rating. The high school's high absenteeism is a red flag that likely impacts its math performance, and the year-to-year volatility in scores, especially with small class sizes, makes it hard to distinguish true trends from cohort-specific effects.
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