Summary:
Charles Henderson High School is the sole high school in the Troy City district, serving grades 9 through 12 with 546 students in a single-school district setting.
For parents, the most important takeaway is that this school is showing clear signs of improvement, even though it still trails state averages in several core subjects. The school’s state ranking has climbed steadily from the 41st percentile in 2023-2024 to the 57th percentile in 2025-2026, a notable upward trend. The standout academic strength is in 11th-grade science, where the school’s proficiency rate of 40.56% actually surpasses the state average of 36.17% — a remarkable achievement given that math (20.98% vs. 27.21% state) and English (25.17% vs. 33.73% state) remain below par. The graduation rate of 90.3% is close to the state’s 91.5%, and the student-teacher ratio of 18.2 is reasonable. However, the most pressing concern is chronic absenteeism, which sits at 19.9% — nearly 8 percentage points higher than the state average of 12.0%. This is a red flag that could undermine future academic gains, as missing school is strongly linked to lower achievement and higher dropout risk.
Context matters here: over 62% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, indicating a predominantly low-income student body. Given that challenge, the school’s improving ranking and science success suggest effective instructional strategies are taking hold, particularly in that subject. The district itself is ranked 52nd out of 139 in Alabama, earning a 3-star rating. One data limitation is that per-student spending figures are from 2018-2019 ($9,746), making it difficult to assess current financial resources. Overall, Charles Henderson High School appears to be a school on the rise, with a clear academic bright spot in science, but chronic absenteeism is the key issue parents should watch closely as it could threaten the positive momentum.
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