Best Public Schools in Northport, AL

The city of Northport, Alabama, is served by the Tuscaloosa County school district and contains 14 schools, including 7 elementary schools, 4 middle schools, 2 high schools, and 1 alternative education center, serving approximately 6,988 students across a diverse socioeconomic landscape.

For parents, the standout school in Northport is clearly Northside High School, which has made an extraordinary leap from the 51st percentile to the 92nd percentile in just two years, boasting a 98.8% graduation rate and dramatically outperforming its larger counterpart, Tuscaloosa County High School, in math, science, and English proficiency. At the elementary level, FaucettVestavia Elementary School leads the pack with exceptional English scores and consistent 4-star ratings, while Walker Elementary School shines in mathematics, nearly doubling the district's 5th-grade math proficiency rate. The "Northside cluster" (Northside High and Northside Middle School) forms a highly successful feeder pattern with the lowest poverty rates among traditional schools. Conversely, Matthews Elementary School and Crestmont Elementary School rank in the bottom 10th percentile and face significant challenges with poverty rates above 74%.

Key takeaways for families include a stark high school disparity—Northside High outperforms Tuscaloosa County High by 25 percentage points in math proficiency despite being one-third the size. Chronic absenteeism emerges as a hidden crisis, rising from roughly 6.5% in elementary schools to nearly 19% in high schools, with Lloyd Wood Education Center reaching a staggering 40.8%. There is also a concerning "middle school slide," where math proficiency drops dramatically between 5th and 8th grade across feeder patterns. Notably, spending does not predict success—Huntington Place Elementary School spends the least among traditional schools yet ranks in the 80th percentile, while Crestmont spends the most and ranks near the bottom. The district spans the full spectrum of Alabama education, from the 92nd percentile to the 10th, suggesting that school-level leadership and culture play decisive roles in outcomes.