Best High Schools in Zip Code 35217

The 35217 zip code area in Alabama is home to two high schools: Fultondale High School and Tarrant High School. Both schools serve predominantly economically disadvantaged student populations, with over 80% of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch.

Based on the data, neither Fultondale High School nor Tarrant High School is performing well academically. Fultondale High School is ranked 299 out of 374 Alabama high schools and is rated 1 out of 5 stars by SchoolDigger, while Tarrant High School is ranked 355 out of 374 and is rated 0 out of 5 stars. Both schools have very low proficiency rates on state assessments, with Tarrant High School often scoring less than 10% proficient across multiple subjects and grade levels.

Despite the low academic performance, both schools maintain relatively high graduation rates of around 90%, which is on par with the state average. However, Tarrant High School had a higher dropout rate of 6.4% in 2018-2019, which is above the state average. The higher per-student spending at Tarrant High School does not seem to translate to better outcomes, indicating that simply spending more money may not be enough to drive improvement without targeted, effective interventions. Addressing the high chronic absenteeism rates at both schools, around 15%, could be an important step in improving academic achievement.