Linden High School

Linden High School is a small public high school in Linden, Alabama, serving about 126 students in grades 9-12 within the Linden City district. The school has made headlines for a dramatic one-year turnaround, jumping from the bottom 10% of Alabama high schools to its best ranking in over a decade.

The most striking improvement is in mathematics. In the 2025-2026 school year, 29.41% of 11th graders scored proficient in math—nearly ten times the rate from the previous year (3.03%) and slightly above the state average (27.21%). This puts Linden right on par with the much larger Demopolis High School, located just 13 miles away, which achieved 29.27% proficiency. Linden also posted strong gains for students from low-income backgrounds, ranking in the 63rd percentile statewide (up from the 14th percentile). The school's small size means a favorable student-teacher ratio of 11.7:1, allowing for more personalized attention than Demopolis's 15.6:1 ratio.

Despite these gains, challenges remain. English proficiency sits at just 16.13%—less than half the state average (33.73%)—and science proficiency (26.47%) trails the state average by nearly 10 points. Chronic absenteeism, while improved from 41.7% to 20.7%, is still well above the state average of 12.0%. The graduation rate of 81.6% also lags the state average of 90.0%, though it has been volatile in recent years. With 87.3% of students qualifying for free or reduced lunch, the school serves a high-need population. The 2025-2026 results offer a promising foundation, but sustained improvement in English, science, and attendance will be key to confirming this is a lasting transformation rather than a one-year anomaly.