Best Middle Schools in Zip Code 35640

Zip code 35640 in Hartselle, Alabama, is served by two highly-rated middle schools within the Hartselle City district, which together educate roughly 1,075 students in grades 5 through 8.

Hartselle Junior High School (grades 7-8) stands out as the top performer, ranking 19th out of 443 Alabama middle schools (96th percentile) with a 5-star rating. It has maintained top-25 status for three consecutive years. The school excels particularly in 8th-grade science, where 82.95% of students are proficient—nearly 29 points above the state average. Its math scores are also exceptional, with 8th graders achieving 60.47% proficiency versus the state's 26.36%. The junior high also showed dramatic year-over-year math improvement, jumping 11.14 points in 7th grade and 7.49 points in 8th grade. Meanwhile, Hartselle Intermediate School (grades 5-6) delivers outstanding English results, with 5th graders reaching an extraordinary 89.96% proficiency. Both schools maintain favorable student-teacher ratios (15.0:1 and 15.2:1) and keep chronic absenteeism below the state's 12.0% rate, though the intermediate school's 9.3% exceeds the district's 8.2% average.

Both schools significantly outperform state averages across every subject and grade, with advantages ranging from +17 to +34 percentage points. A notable pattern emerges in English proficiency, which declines at each grade transition (5th to 6th: -14.77 points; 7th to 8th: -6.28 points), suggesting students face increasing academic demands as they progress. The intermediate school achieves strong results despite spending $1,422 less per student than the junior high ($8,011 vs. $9,433). With roughly 35% of students qualifying for free/reduced lunch at both schools, the district demonstrates that economic diversity does not hinder academic excellence. For parents, this area offers a cohesive, high-performing educational pathway from 5th through 8th grade, with particular strengths in science and mathematics at the junior high and exceptional early-middle-school English instruction at the intermediate level.