Summary:
Guntersville Middle School is the only middle school in the Guntersville City district, serving grades 6 through 8 with 381 students in a district ranked in the top 17% of Alabama districts.
This school is a consistent performer, earning a 4-star rating for three consecutive years and ranking in the 72nd to 76th percentile statewide. Its biggest strength is English Language Arts, where students in every grade beat the state average by a wide margin—7th graders were especially strong, with 76% proficient compared to 55% statewide. Science is also a bright spot: 8th grade proficiency jumped from 42% to 55% in one year, now matching the state average. The school also keeps students engaged, with a chronic absenteeism rate of just 8.9%, far better than the state's 12%, even though over half of its students qualify for free or reduced lunch.
The main concern is math. While 6th graders outperform the state (45% vs. 35% proficient), proficiency drops sharply by 8th grade, where only 19% are proficient versus 26% statewide—a 26-point gap between the school's own 6th and 8th graders. This suggests the math curriculum or support may not be keeping pace as students advance. Year-to-year scores also swing noticeably (e.g., 7th grade ELA rose 20 points while 6th grade ELA fell 11 points), which is common for a school this size. With a student-teacher ratio of 17.4:1 and per-student spending of $8,940, the school achieves strong results in most areas despite these resource levels. For parents, this is a solid, well-rounded school with excellent literacy outcomes, but one to watch closely for math support in the upper grades.
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