Best Public Schools in Gadsden, AL

Summary:

The city of Gadsden, Alabama is home to 16 schools, including 10 elementary schools, 3 middle schools, 2 high schools, and 1 alternative school. These schools are primarily part of the Gadsden City District, with the exception of Gaston High School and Gaston Elementary School, which are part of the Etowah County District.

Among the standout schools in Gadsden are Eura Brown Elementary School and Mitchell Elementary School, both of which consistently rank among the top elementary schools in Alabama. These schools boast exceptional test scores, low chronic absenteeism, and relatively low free/reduced lunch rates compared to other Gadsden schools. Additionally, Gaston Elementary School, while not part of the Gadsden City District, also stands out with its 3-star rating and strong performance on state assessments.

However, the data also reveals significant disparities in performance between the highest and lowest-performing schools in the Gadsden City District. For example, 3rd grade math proficiency ranges from 12.77% at Thompson Elementary to 76.19% at Eura Brown Elementary. These gaps suggest a need to better understand the factors contributing to these disparities and implement targeted interventions to support the lower-performing schools. Additionally, the high free/reduced lunch rates at many Gadsden City schools may be linked to the lower academic performance observed, highlighting the importance of addressing issues of poverty and providing additional resources and support to economically disadvantaged students.

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				Summative Assessment Mathematics (2025)							Summative Assessment Science (2025)			Summative Assessment English (2025)							Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	Rank Change from Previous Year	Summative Assessment Mathematics 3rd Grade	Summative Assessment Mathematics 4th Grade	Summative Assessment Mathematics 5th Grade	Summative Assessment Mathematics 6th Grade	Summative Assessment Mathematics 7th Grade	Summative Assessment Mathematics 8th Grade	Summative Assessment Mathematics 11th Grade	Summative Assessment Science 4th Grade	Summative Assessment Science 8th Grade	Summative Assessment Science 11th Grade	Summative Assessment English 3rd Grade	Summative Assessment English 4th Grade	Summative Assessment English 5th Grade	Summative Assessment English 6th Grade	Summative Assessment English 7th Grade	Summative Assessment English 8th Grade	Summative Assessment English 11th Grade	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Gaston High School	Public	7-12	4550 US Highway 411	Gadsden	35901	Etowah County	Etowah County	No	No	No	Yes	(256) 547-8828	380	20	19.0	63.9%	304 (80.0%)	20 (5.3%)	20 (5.3%)	2 (0.5%)	1 (0.3%)	2 (0.5%)	31 (8.2%)	27.3	258^th of 374 public high schools	31.0%		37.8	232^nd of 378 public high schools	38.6%	26					7.7	3.5	10.3		29.8	17.2					47.0	59.7	17.5	$11,715	$2,360	$9,318
Highland Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-6	3156 Tabor Rd	Gadsden	35904	Etowah County	Etowah County	No	No	No	Yes	(256) 546-7409	216	12	18.0	53.7%	185 (85.6%)	7 (3.2%)	6 (2.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (7.9%)	40.7	419^th of 680 public elementary schools	38.4%		45.3	390^th of 684 public elementary schools	43.0%	29	36.4	29.6	24.1	5.3				44.4			63.6	44.4	75.9	57.9				$10,660	$1,779	$8,880
Gaston Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-6	4550 US Highway 411	Gadsden	35901	Etowah County	Etowah County	No	No	No	Yes	(256) 622-1073	290	18	15.9	67.6%	246 (84.8%)	14 (4.8%)	7 (2.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.0%)	20 (6.9%)	54.5	320^th of 680 public elementary schools	52.9%		62.7	244^th of 684 public elementary schools	64.3%	76	54.8	38.6	35.3	38.7				31.8			67.7	45.5	70.6	71.0				$7,023	$864	$6,158
Donehoo Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	1109 E Broad St	Gadsden	35903	Etowah County	Gadsden City	No	No	No	Yes	(256) 546-3604	225	12	18.3	73.3%	20 (8.9%)	158 (70.2%)	40 (17.8%)	2 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (2.2%)	50.7	349^th of 680 public elementary schools	48.7%		49.6	349^th of 684 public elementary schools	49.0%		46.7	40.0	50.0					26.7			65.5	60.0	61.3					$11,244	$2,746	$8,483
Litchfield Middle School	Public	6-8	1109 Hoke St	Gadsden	35903	Etowah County	Gadsden City	No	No	No	Yes	(256) 492-6793	252	16	16.2	80.2%	20 (7.9%)	151 (59.9%)	78 (31.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.2%)	13.4	394^th of 439 public middle schools	10.3%		17.6	365^th of 442 public middle schools	17.4%	29				7.7	4.6	6.2			13.6					32.5	37.2	24.7		$14,976	$3,234	$11,723
Gadsden Middle School	Public	6-8	612 Tracy St	Gadsden	35901	Etowah County	Gadsden City	No	No	No	No	(256) 547-6341	438	24	18.5	63.9%	123 (28.1%)	215 (49.1%)	85 (19.4%)	5 (1.1%)	5 (1.1%)	1 (0.2%)	4 (0.9%)	55.1	179^th of 439 public middle schools	59.2%		47.5	226^th of 442 public middle schools	48.9%	47				41.2	24.7	28.2			32.1					58.1	52.1	52.6		$7,496	$1,000	$6,478
Eura Brown Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	1231 Alcott Rd	Gadsden	35901	Etowah County	Gadsden City	No	No	No	No	(256) 546-0011	340	21	16.0	32.6%	238 (70.0%)	59 (17.4%)	18 (5.3%)	8 (2.4%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (4.4%)	93	31^st of 680 public elementary schools	95.4%		94.7	27^th of 684 public elementary schools	96.1%	4	76.2	77.8	74.5					66.7			90.5	77.8	93.6					$8,337	$710	$7,609
Sansom Middle School	Public	6-8	2210 W Meighan Blvd	Gadsden	35904	Etowah County	Gadsden City	No	No	No	Yes	(256) 546-4992	339	20	16.6	77.6%	128 (37.8%)	107 (31.6%)	86 (25.4%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (5.0%)	35	297^th of 439 public middle schools	32.3%		38.8	275^th of 442 public middle schools	37.8%	22				32.0	10.1	6.7			27.8					55.6	53.9	33.8		$10,000	$2,276	$7,706
Mitchell Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	1501 Noccalula Rd	Gadsden	35904	Etowah County	Gadsden City	No	No	No	No	(256) 546-2711	262	18	14.8	59.2%	163 (62.2%)	50 (19.1%)	26 (9.9%)	3 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (7.6%)	71.4	184^th of 680 public elementary schools	72.9%		64.3	227^th of 684 public elementary schools	66.8%	43	72.5	63.9	44.4					33.3			70.0	80.6	72.2					$8,237	$807	$7,413
W E Striplin Elementary School	Public	K-5	600 Cleveland Ave	Gadsden	35901	Etowah County	Gadsden City	No	No	No	Yes	(256) 546-8616	400	20	19.7	84.8%	37 (9.3%)	222 (55.5%)	122 (30.5%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (3.8%)	21.4	532^nd of 680 public elementary schools	21.8%		23.2	525^th of 684 public elementary schools	23.2%	7	35.3	22.5	15.6					24.5			42.7	49.0	45.3					$9,349	$2,460	$6,872
Walnut Park Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	3200 Walnut St	Gadsden	35904	Etowah County	Gadsden City	No	No	No	Yes	(256) 546-4665	218	13	16.4	78.9%	116 (53.2%)	55 (25.2%)	41 (18.8%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.8%)	39.5	426^th of 680 public elementary schools	37.4%		28.7	494^th of 684 public elementary schools	27.8%	68	51.5	32.1	32.3					28.6			60.6	53.6	51.6					$11,169	$3,212	$7,941
C I T Y Program	Public	6-12	435 E Chestnut	Gadsden	35903	Etowah County	Gadsden City	No	No	No	No	(256) 543-2489																			(n/a)
Floyd Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	601 Black Creek Rd	Gadsden	35904	Etowah County	Gadsden City	No	No	No	Yes	(256) 546-0836	384	16	23.8	82.0%	71 (18.5%)	164 (42.7%)	129 (33.6%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (2.1%)	1 (0.3%)	11 (2.9%)	10.7	631^st of 680 public elementary schools	7.2%		24.8	516^th of 684 public elementary schools	24.6%	115	30.5	17.0	5.8					11.9			28.3	23.7	46.2					$9,258	$2,678	$6,563
Downtown Educational Center	Public	6-12	220 Locust Street	Gadsden	35901	Etowah County	Gadsden City	No	No	No	No	(256) 547-5446																			(n/a)
Therapeutic Academic Program	Public	1-5	201 College St	Gadsden	35901	Etowah County	Gadsden City	No	No	No	No	(256) 549-2961																			(n/a)
Adams Elementary School	Public	K-5	919 Raley St	Gadsden	35903	Etowah County	Gadsden City	No	No	No	Yes	(256) 492-4952	433	23	18.6	90.8%	61 (14.1%)	196 (45.3%)	160 (37.0%)	2 (0.5%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (2.8%)	9.7	641^st of 680 public elementary schools	5.7%		12.3	613^th of 684 public elementary schools	10.4%	28	14.1	11.1	5.5					15.6			39.1	35.5	45.8					$9,435	$2,672	$6,747
Thompson Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	236 Goldenrod Ave	Gadsden	35901	Etowah County	Gadsden City	No	No	No	Yes	(256) 546-7011	288	14	20.2	81.3%	50 (17.4%)	179 (62.2%)	40 (13.9%)	2 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.7%)	15 (5.2%)	16.5	572^nd of 680 public elementary schools	15.9%		25.5	510^th of 684 public elementary schools	25.4%	62	12.8	6.9	8.9					24.1			40.4	51.7	53.3					$11,365	$3,097	$8,253
Gadsden City High School	Public	9-12	1917 Black Creek Parkway	Gadsden	35904	Etowah County	Gadsden City	No	No	No	No	(256) 543-3614	1,361	79	17.2	68.9%	407 (29.9%)	616 (45.3%)	301 (22.1%)	14 (1.0%)	6 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (1.2%)	33.3	239^th of 374 public high schools	36.1%		45.6	197^th of 378 public high schools	47.9%	42							16.8			17.8							18.0	$10,701	$1,038	$9,632

Cities Near Gadsden

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Glencoe	2.78 mi	3	110^th
Hokes Bluff	4.3 mi	3	76^th
Southside	7.7 mi	2	64^th
Rainbow City	7.95 mi	2	42^nd
Attalla	9.2 mi	7	165^th

See the top AL Alabama cities

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.