York West End Junior High School

York West End Junior High School in Livingston, AL, serves 159 students from Pre-K through 4th grade within the Sumter County school district, where a large majority of families (77%) qualify for free or reduced lunch.

The most exciting news is that this school is showing real momentum. After several years of ranking near the bottom of Alabama schools, York West End jumped from the 2nd percentile to the 16th percentile in the most recent school year. That's a huge one-year gain. For example, 3rd grade math proficiency nearly tripled (from 10% to 29%), and 3rd grade English proficiency more than doubled (from 23% to 54%). The school also has a favorable student-teacher ratio of 12.2:1, which is much smaller than nearby Livingston Junior High School (18:1) and University Charter School Elementary (31.3:1). In fact, York West End has now overtaken Livingston Junior High in overall ranking, a notable reversal from the previous year.

Despite this progress, challenges remain. Chronic absenteeism—while improving—still affects 29.4% of students, which is more than double the state average and four times higher than University Charter School's rate of 7.2%. This attendance gap likely explains much of the achievement difference between the schools. York West End also spends more per student ($13,506) than its district counterpart, yet proficiency rates still trail state benchmarks. The good news is that the school's recent academic gains coincide with improving attendance, and the smaller class sizes may be helping. If the school can keep reducing absenteeism, the positive trend seen in the latest data has a strong chance of continuing.