Best Public Schools in Theodore, AL

The city of Theodore, Alabama, is served by four public schools within the Mobile County school district, educating approximately 2,892 students from elementary through high school in a predominantly economically disadvantaged area.

For parents, the standout school is Nan Gray Davis Elementary School, which is the only school in the city with a consistent 2-star rating and achieves near-state-average English proficiency rates (56-59%) despite 71% of its students qualifying for free/reduced lunch. In contrast, Mary W Burroughs Elementary School is the lowest-performing school, with a persistent 1-star rating and proficiency rates lagging 15-25 points behind state averages in most subjects, despite receiving the highest per-student funding in the city at $11,481. The most dramatic story is Theodore High School, which jumped from a 1-star to a 2-star rating in one year, with math proficiency nearly tripling from 8.7% to 24.9%—now exceeding the district average. However, Katherine H Hankins Middle School shows concerning declines, with 6th-grade English proficiency dropping to just 30.7% compared to 56-59% at Nan Gray Davis, and 7th-grade math at only 10.9% proficiency.

Key takeaways for families include a significant achievement cliff between elementary and middle school, with chronic absenteeism doubling from around 6% at elementary schools to 13-14% at upper-grade schools. Math is the weakest subject across all four schools, with every grade level falling below state averages. Science is a relative bright spot, with Hankins Middle's 8th-grade science (49.8%) nearly matching the state average. Theodore High's graduation rate of 88.4% exceeds the district average, and the school's rapid improvement suggests effective interventions are possible. While poverty levels correlate with performance, Nan Gray Davis demonstrates that high-poverty schools can achieve strong literacy outcomes, offering a potential model for improvement across the district.