Summary:
The city of Lynn, Alabama, is served by two schools within the Winston County district: Lynn High School (grades 5-12) and Lynn Elementary School (grades PK-4), which together educate about 424 students on a shared campus.
These two schools are heading in opposite directions. Lynn High School is the standout success story, having jumped from a 2-star to a 4-star rating in a single year, moving from the 42nd to the 73rd percentile statewide. It also boasts a perfect 100% graduation rate. However, this improvement is uneven. While 5th grade math proficiency is excellent at 65.63%, it collapses to just 12% in 6th grade and 0% in 7th grade, before recovering slightly to 11.54% in 8th grade. The 11th grade saw a remarkable 25-point gain in math proficiency, reaching 41.18%. In contrast, Lynn Elementary School has declined from a 3-star to a 2-star rating over two years, dropping from the 68th to the 36th percentile. Its 3rd grade math (56%) beats the state average, but 4th grade English (40%) lags significantly behind the state's 59.53%.
For parents, the most pressing concerns are at the elementary level. Lynn Elementary School has a chronic absenteeism rate of 18.7%, well above the state's 12.0%, and serves a higher percentage of economically disadvantaged students (61.31% free/reduced lunch) than the high school (53.52%). Despite spending $1,678 more per student than the high school, its performance is slipping. The high school's dramatic turnaround suggests effective practices exist within the district, but they are not reaching the younger grades. The "middle school cliff" in math is a critical red flag that needs immediate attention before the current strong 5th graders advance into those grades.
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