Middle Schools in Fairfield City

Fairfield City is home to a single middle school, C J Donald Middle School, which serves grades 6 through 8 and enrolls 316 students in the Fairfield, AL area. As the only middle school in the Fairfield City district, its performance directly defines the district's standing, which ranks in the bottom 6th percentile of all Alabama districts.

For parents, the most important takeaway is that C J Donald Middle School faces significant academic challenges, particularly in mathematics. In the most recent testing year, only 3.37% of 6th graders and 6.98% of 7th graders were proficient in math, compared to state averages of 35.22% and 24.46%, respectively. Science proficiency is also low, with just 15.15% of 8th graders meeting standards versus 54.12% statewide. The school's relative strength is English Language Arts, where 8th-grade proficiency reached 36.27%, though this still trails the state average of 58.53%. The school serves a high-poverty population, with 87.03% of students eligible for free or reduced lunch, and per-student spending is $11,750.

One encouraging finding is the school's remarkably low chronic absenteeism rate of just 2.6%, far better than the state average of 12.0%, indicating that students are consistently showing up to class. However, this strong attendance does not translate into academic success, suggesting students may need more targeted instructional support. Test scores also show significant year-over-year volatility—for example, 6th-grade math proficiency dropped from 15.15% to 3.37% in one year, while 8th-grade ELA proficiency more than doubled from 16.51% to 36.27%. Despite these swings, the school's state ranking has remained stable in the bottom 5th-7th percentile, meaning it consistently performs among the lowest schools in Alabama. Parents should be aware that while the school has a positive attendance culture, academic proficiency, especially in math and science, remains a critical area needing improvement.