Summary
Calhoun High School is a small, rural high school in Letohatchee, AL, serving 186 students in grades 9-12 within the Lowndes County school district, where nearly 89% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch.
Calhoun High School faces significant academic challenges, with state rankings consistently in the bottom 5% of Alabama high schools. The most pressing concern is mathematics proficiency, which has hovered at or near 0% for four consecutive years—far below the state average of 27%. English proficiency (5.13%) and science proficiency (5.13%) are also critically low, though science performance is more than double the district average, suggesting a potential area of instructional strength. The school also struggles with chronic absenteeism at 21.7%, nearly double the state average, which likely contributes to low test scores. However, there are bright spots: the graduation rate jumped dramatically from 70.4% to 86.3% in the last year, now exceeding the district average, and the school has shown remarkable success with its homeless student population, ranking in the 45th percentile after being at the 0th percentile the prior year. A notable disparity exists between male and female students, with males ranking in the 15th percentile while females rank in the 1st percentile—a trend that has persisted for three years and warrants attention.
Compared to nearby schools, Calhoun is outperforming Central High School in the same district, with a higher state rank (370th vs. 376th), a better graduation rate (86.3% vs. 80.4%), and higher science proficiency (5.13% vs. 0%). However, Greenville High School, located just 16 miles away in the Butler County district, shows significantly higher test scores—English proficiency of 17.39% and math proficiency of 5.26%—though it serves a larger student body with a lower poverty rate. This comparison highlights how socioeconomic factors and district-level support influence outcomes. While Calhoun faces immense challenges, its recent graduation rate improvement and pockets of success suggest that targeted interventions can make a difference.
Thank you for your feedback!