Summary
Beulah High School in Valley, AL, serves approximately 535 students in grades 7-12 as part of the Lee County school district, and has climbed from a 1-star rating to a solid 3-star rating over the past five years. This is a school in the midst of a genuine turnaround, and the numbers back it up. The graduation rate has jumped from 75.6% to 92.4% in just two years, now sitting above the state average. Chronic absenteeism has been cut nearly in half, dropping from a crisis-level 33.1% to 15.0%. Perhaps most striking is the progress made with African American students, who moved from the 4th percentile statewide to the 61st percentile in just two years—a remarkable 131-position improvement that suggests targeted interventions are working.
Academically, the school shows some clear bright spots alongside areas needing attention. Eleventh-grade science proficiency (40.79%) has now exceeded both the district and state averages for two consecutive years, and the 7th-grade English proficiency rate (64.77%) is nearly 10 points above the state average. However, there's a noticeable drop-off by 8th grade, particularly in science where proficiency (23.71%) is roughly half the state rate (54.12%). Math proficiency at the high school level (15.79%) also lags behind the state (27.21%). When compared to nearby schools, Beulah outperforms its closest geographic neighbor, Valley High School, in most metrics, but trails Beauregard High School and Smiths Station High School in the same district, and is far behind the region's top performer, Auburn High School.
For parents, the key takeaway is that Beulah is a school on the rise, with a favorable 14:1 student-teacher ratio and higher-than-average per-student spending ($12,948). The school also shows a hidden strength in special education services, ranking in the 52nd percentile statewide. While chronic absenteeism (15.0%) still exceeds the state average (12.0%) and the school's overall ranking (184th of 380) places it in the middle of the pack, the trajectory is undeniably positive. The 7th-grade cohort shows exceptional promise, and the challenge ahead is sustaining those gains through the transition years and into high school.
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