Summary:
Zip code 35401 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, is served by a single high school, Central High School, which enrolls 796 students in grades 9-12 and is part of the Tuscaloosa City school district.
Central High School faces significant academic challenges, consistently ranking in the bottom quarter of Alabama high schools and earning just 1 star in each of the past three years. In the most recent data (2025-2026), only 9.57% of 11th graders are proficient in math, compared to 22.47% district-wide and 27.21% statewide. Science proficiency is 23.53% (versus 34.02% district and 36.17% state), and English proficiency is 13.66% (versus 26.11% district and 33.73% state). The school's graduation rate of 81.5% trails the district (89.5%) and state (91.5%) averages, and the dropout rate of 9.4% is nearly double the district's 5.3%. A critical concern is chronic absenteeism: 31.8% of students are chronically absent, nearly three times the district rate of 11.1% and more than 2.5 times the state rate of 12.0%. With 78.14% of students qualifying for free or reduced lunch, the school serves a predominantly low-income population.
Despite these challenges, there are encouraging signs of improvement. Math proficiency more than doubled from 4.24% (2024-2025) to 9.57% (2025-2026), and science proficiency jumped from 12.73% to 23.53%—an 85% relative increase. The student-teacher ratio is 17.8:1, and per-student spending is $14,113, which is substantial. As the only high school in the zip code, Central High School is the sole educational pathway for local students, making its performance especially impactful. The recent academic gains suggest targeted interventions may be working, but addressing chronic absenteeism and ensuring effective use of resources will be key to sustaining progress and closing the wide gaps with district and state averages.
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