Summary:
Schools in zip code 35120, serving the Odenville and Margaret communities within the St Clair County district, include five schools spanning pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, with a total enrollment of approximately 2,696 students.
Margaret Elementary is the clear academic leader, ranking in the 77th percentile statewide with strong math and English proficiency across all grade levels. In contrast, Odenville Middle School shows a dramatic decline in math proficiency, with only 7-10% of students meeting standards compared to 25-57% at the elementary level. Saint Clair County High School has experienced volatile performance, swinging from the 67th to 29th percentile and back to the 70th percentile over three years, though its 2025-2026 scores show significant improvement in both math (21.2%) and English (41.6%). Odenville Intermediate stands out for its low chronic absenteeism rate of 6.4% despite serving the highest percentage of free/reduced lunch students (59.2%), while Odenville Elementary has no recent test score data since it serves only PK-2.
The most pressing concern is the middle school math cliff, where proficiency drops by 30-40 percentage points from elementary to middle school. This issue likely compounds through high school, where 11th-grade math proficiency remains low at 21.2%. The high school also has the highest chronic absenteeism rate (16.9%) in the area, yet still showed academic improvement, suggesting attendance issues may be concentrated among specific subgroups. Spending varies significantly across schools, from $7,776 per student at Odenville Middle to $10,948 at Odenville Elementary, but higher spending does not correlate with better outcomes. Science proficiency is a relative strength across all schools, with rates meeting or exceeding state averages. Overall, parents should be aware of the strong elementary options, particularly Margaret Elementary, but should closely monitor the transition to middle school where math performance drops sharply.
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