Summary:
Zip code 35453, covering the Cottondale area of Alabama, is home to just one high school, Paul W Bryant High School, which serves grades 9-12 within the Tuscaloosa City school district.
For parents, the most important takeaway is that Paul W Bryant High School is a large school (1,134 students) showing remarkable momentum, even though it still faces significant academic challenges. The school has jumped 31 spots in the state ranking over the past year, moving from 323rd to 292nd out of 380 Alabama high schools. This improvement is backed by dramatic test score gains: math proficiency more than tripled from 3.07% to 9.97%, science jumped from 13.60% to 21.65%, and English rose from 9.87% to 16.96% in just one year. Despite these gains, proficiency rates remain well below state averages—math trails by 17 points, science by 15 points, and English by 17 points. The school also has a notably high chronic absenteeism rate of 17.5%, compared to 12.0% statewide, which is a concern given that nearly 65% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch.
One standout positive is the graduation rate: at 91.7%, it actually exceeds both the district (89.5%) and state (91.5%) averages, even while test scores lag. This suggests the school is effective at helping students complete their diplomas, possibly through credit recovery programs. The school currently holds a 1-star rating, and the district itself ranks in the 46th percentile statewide. With per-student spending around $9,385, the school operates with modest resources but is clearly demonstrating that its recent interventions are working. For parents, this is a school on the rise—one that still has substantial gaps to close but is showing the kind of year-over-year improvement that suggests meaningful change is underway.
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