Summary:
Sumiton, Alabama is home to a single middle school, Sumiton Middle School, which serves grades 5 through 8 and enrolls 476 students within the Walker County school district.
For parents, the most striking finding is a severe math proficiency crisis, especially by 8th grade, where only 4.67% of students are proficient—a staggering 21.69 points below the state average. Math proficiency declines sharply with each grade level, from 23.15% in 5th grade down to 4.67% in 8th grade, suggesting students fall increasingly behind as they progress. English performance is significantly stronger, with 5th graders achieving 60.19% proficiency, though this also drops to 37.38% by 8th grade. The school consistently underperforms its own district across all subjects and grade levels, with gaps ranging from 7 to 16 points, indicating school-specific challenges rather than district-wide issues. Science shows some promise, with 8th-grade proficiency improving year-over-year from 24.59% to 31.78%, though it still trails the state by 22 points.
Despite economic challenges—64.29% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch—the school boasts remarkably low chronic absenteeism at just 5.3%, less than half the state average of 12.0%. This suggests strong student engagement that could be leveraged for improvement. However, the school's state ranking has slipped from the 26th to the 21st percentile over three years, indicating other Alabama schools are improving faster. The declining performance in upper grades, particularly in math, points to an urgent need for targeted interventions and additional support for students transitioning to higher grade levels.
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