Summary:
Zip code 35442 is home to just one high school, Aliceville High School, which serves grades 7 through 12 in the Pickens County district, with a total enrollment of 338 students in a rural, economically challenged area of western Alabama.
For parents considering this school, the most important takeaway is a stark disconnect between graduation rates and actual academic mastery. While the graduation rate is a respectable 91.8%—slightly above the state average—state test scores are alarmingly low. In the most recent testing year, 0% of 11th graders were proficient in mathematics, and only 10.71% were proficient in English. Science proficiency for 11th graders was just 8.77%. These numbers are far below district and state averages across every subject and grade level. The school’s state ranking has also plummeted from the 32nd percentile in 2023-2024 to the 5th percentile in 2025-2026, placing it in the bottom 5% of Alabama high schools. This suggests that while students are graduating, many may not be leaving with the core academic skills needed for college or career readiness.
There are a few bright spots worth noting. The middle grades perform relatively better—8th grade English proficiency was 28.57%, and 7th grade English reached 44.23%—indicating that the school is more effective in earlier grades before performance drops sharply in high school. However, significant challenges remain: 81.95% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, chronic absenteeism is 17.7% (well above the state’s 12.0%), and the student-teacher ratio is a high 26.8. Per-student spending is $14,223, which is relatively high, yet outcomes are among the lowest in the state. This combination of poverty, attendance issues, and weak high school performance points to a school in urgent need of targeted intervention, especially in math and science instruction for upperclassmen.
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