Summary:
Zip code 35127 is home to just one high school, Pleasant Grove High School, a combined 6-12 campus in Pleasant Grove, Alabama, serving 752 students within the Jefferson County school district.
For parents considering this area, the most important takeaway is that Pleasant Grove High School is facing serious academic challenges, particularly in mathematics. In the most recent testing, only about 1% of 6th and 7th graders were proficient in math, and just 2.8% of 8th graders met standards—figures that are 25 to 34 percentage points below state averages. While English scores are somewhat better, with 8th grade proficiency at 41.3%, they still trail the state by roughly 17 points. The school's state ranking has also declined sharply, falling from the 16th percentile in 2025-2026 to just the 4th percentile in 2023-2024. The graduation rate of 86% is only slightly below the state's 91.5%, but given the low test scores, this may not fully reflect college or career readiness.
Several factors compound these academic struggles. Chronic absenteeism stands at 18.3%, which is over 50% higher than the state average of 12%, meaning many students are missing significant instructional time. The school also serves a high-poverty population, with 63.4% of students qualifying for free or reduced lunch. Even within its own district—which ranks in the bottom quarter of Alabama districts—Pleasant Grove High School underperforms in nearly every subject and grade level. The 6-12 configuration could allow for stronger vertical alignment, but the data suggests that potential is not being realized. For parents, this means the school requires immediate and targeted intervention, especially in middle school math, where proficiency rates below 3% point to a systemic instructional crisis rather than isolated student issues.
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