Summary:
Zip code 35040 is served by a single high school, Calera High, which enrolls 1,018 students in grades 9 through 12 and is part of the highly-rated Shelby County district (ranked 29th of 139 districts in Alabama).
For parents, the most important takeaway is that Calera High is a school with a strong graduation rate but significant academic challenges relative to its district and state peers. The graduation rate of 94.6% exceeds both the district (94.5%) and state (91.5%) averages, which is a clear positive. However, the school’s state ranking has declined steadily over three years, from 137th (64th percentile, 3 stars) in 2023-2024 to 210th (45th percentile, 2 stars) in 2025-2026. This downward trend is reflected in test scores: in 2025-2026, only 17.65% of 11th graders were proficient in math, compared to 40.97% for the district and 27.21% for the state. Science proficiency (31.93%) and English proficiency (24.46%) also lag far behind district averages (52.37% and 44.55%, respectively). The gap is especially stark in math, where Calera High trails its own district by over 23 percentage points.
There are some encouraging signs. Math and science proficiency improved from 2024-25 to 2025-26, and chronic absenteeism (11.8%) is below the state average (12.0%). The student-teacher ratio is 17.8, and per-student spending is $9,178 (2018-2019 data). Notably, 56.88% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch, a factor that often correlates with academic performance. While the school is not matching its district’s high benchmarks, it does provide a supportive environment where most students graduate. Parents should weigh the strong graduation outcomes against the academic proficiency gaps when considering this school.
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