High Schools in Lee County

The four high schools in Lee County, Alabama—Smiths Station High School, Beulah High School, Beauregard High School, and Loachapoka High School—serve grades 7 through 12 and range in size from about 277 students at Loachapoka to over 1,500 at Smiths Station, with the district ranking in the middle of Alabama schools overall.

For parents comparing options, Beauregard High School is the clear standout. It holds the district’s highest state ranking (117th out of 380), is the only school with a 4-star rating, and posts the best graduation rate (92.9%) alongside the lowest chronic absenteeism (8.9%). It also leads in 11th-grade math (27.6%) and science (42.9%) proficiency. Smiths Station High School is the largest and most consistent overall, with the top graduation rate (93.2%) and strong English scores (33.9%), though it struggles with the highest chronic absenteeism at 17.4%. Beulah High School shows promise in science (40.8%, above the state average) but lags in math (15.8%) and English (23.7%). Loachapoka High School faces the steepest challenges, with a dramatic ranking drop to 333rd, the lowest test scores across all subjects (e.g., 6.1% in science), and a graduation rate of just 81.4%.

Key takeaways for families: science is a relative strength at Smiths Station and Beulah, both exceeding the state average. However, there’s a troubling pattern of declining performance from 7th to 11th grade across all schools—Beulah’s 7th-grade English proficiency of 64.8% falls to 23.7% by 11th grade. Notably, Beauregard achieves top results with moderate spending ($11,085 per student), while Loachapoka spends over $20,000 per student yet sees the weakest outcomes, suggesting that school culture and targeted support matter more than funding alone. Parents should weigh each school’s strengths—Beauregard for overall excellence, Smiths Station for size and graduation success, and Beulah for science—while being aware of the middle-to-high school transition dip.