Summary:
The Gadsden City school district in Alabama is home to three middle schools serving grades 6-8: Gadsden Middle School, Sansom Middle School, and Litchfield Middle School, with enrollments ranging from 252 to 438 students.
For parents comparing schools, Gadsden Middle School is the clear academic leader, earning a 3-star rating and ranking in the 53rd percentile statewide—the only school in the district to reach that level. Its 7th-grade students are particularly strong, with 40.43% proficiency in math (well above the 24.46% state average) and 64.79% in English. Sansom Middle School sits in the middle with a 2-star rating and 47th percentile ranking, but stands out in 8th-grade science, where 53.57% of students are proficient—nearly matching the state average and far exceeding Gadsden's 40.46%. Litchfield Middle School is the lowest-performing school, ranking in the 16th percentile with a 1-star rating, and struggles most in math, where proficiency rates range from just 8.22% to 12% across grades.
Several patterns are worth noting. Litchfield receives the highest per-student funding ($14,976) yet has the lowest outcomes, while Gadsden spends the least ($7,496) and performs best—suggesting money alone doesn't drive results. Interestingly, Litchfield has the lowest chronic absenteeism rate (7.6%) despite its academic struggles, while Gadsden has the highest (13.5%). All three schools perform relatively better in English than math compared to state averages. Finally, year-to-year scores swing dramatically—for example, Gadsden's 6th-grade math proficiency dropped 17 points in one year—so parents should look at multi-year trends rather than single-year snapshots when evaluating these schools.
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