Summary:
Madison, Alabama is home to two large, high-achieving public high schools—James Clemens High School and Bob Jones High School—both serving grades 9-12 within the highly rated Madison City school district, which ranks in the top 8% of districts in Alabama.
Both schools are elite performers, ranking in the top 5% of all high schools in the state. James Clemens holds a slight edge, ranked #14 in Alabama, and outperforms Bob Jones (ranked #15) in all three tested subjects—math, science, and English. For example, 58.4% of James Clemens 11th graders are proficient in math versus 53.4% at Bob Jones, and both schools are roughly double the state average in every subject. However, Bob Jones has the higher graduation rate at 96.2% (compared to 95.8% at James Clemens) and showed the biggest year-over-year ranking jump, moving up seven spots. Both schools also posted dramatic gains in math proficiency this year, with James Clemens improving by nearly 13 points and Bob Jones by over 8 points.
With enrollments above 2,000 students each, these schools are large but efficient, spending about $9,370 per student. They serve a moderate share of economically disadvantaged students (23-25% free/reduced lunch) while still achieving top-tier results. The main area of concern is chronic absenteeism, which runs at 11.2% at James Clemens and 12.1% at Bob Jones—both above the district average of 8.6%. Despite this, the two schools are remarkably close in overall performance, making them essentially peer institutions and giving Madison families two excellent, nearly interchangeable options for their children's high school education.
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