Summary:
The Jefferson County school district in Alabama oversees 13 high schools serving grades 9-12 (with three schools—Fultondale High School, Oak Grove High School, and Pleasant Grove High School—also covering grades 6-8), enrolling roughly 12,500 students in a mix of suburban and rural communities.
There is a wide performance gap between schools. Corner High School is the clear standout, ranking 73rd statewide (81st percentile) with math proficiency more than double the district average, a 97.7% graduation rate, and the lowest poverty rate (32.9% free/reduced lunch). Mortimer Jordan High School and Gardendale High School also perform well, with strong science scores and graduation rates above 89%. At the other end, Center Point High School ranks 369th out of 380 schools, with math proficiency at just 3% and the highest poverty rate (80.7%). Shades Valley High School is a notable concern—it dropped nearly 200 ranking spots in one year, with math proficiency falling from 28.6% to 10.6%.
District-wide, proficiency rates lag the state significantly: 15.2% in math versus 27.2% statewide, and 18.9% in English versus 33.7%. Chronic absenteeism is a crisis, averaging 16.9% (state: 12%), with McAdory High School (31.6%), Clay-Chalkville High School (30.9%), and Pinson Valley High School (30.1%) exceeding 30%. Interestingly, higher spending does not predict success—Center Point High School spends the most per student ($12,293) yet has the worst outcomes. The good news: graduation rates are close to the state average (90.8% vs. 91.5%), with Oak Grove High School leading at 98.9%. Schools serving grades 6-12 also show a troubling pattern where students perform much better in middle school than in 11th grade, suggesting academic ground is lost during high school.
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