Summary:
Zip code 35674 in Alabama is served by two public high schools, Deshler High School (grades 9-12) and Colbert Heights High School (grades 7-12), which together enroll nearly 1,000 students across the Tuscumbia City and Colbert County districts.
For parents, the most important takeaway is that both schools share a critical weakness in chronic absenteeism, with rates near 20%—over 60% higher than the state average. This likely explains why both schools struggle with math proficiency, where they are nearly tied (Deshler at 17.4%, Colbert Heights at 16.9%) and well below the state average of 27.2%. However, the schools diverge in other subjects. Colbert Heights High School exceeds the state average in both science (36.6% vs. 36.2%) and English (35.7% vs. 33.7%), while Deshler High School falls short in both. This academic edge helps explain why Colbert Heights currently holds the higher state ranking (150th vs. 202nd), despite Deshler having a slightly better graduation rate (97.0% vs. 98.5% for Colbert Heights) and lower chronic absenteeism (19.5% vs. 19.3%).
Looking at trends, Deshler High School is the more volatile performer, swinging from the 78th percentile two years ago to the 47th percentile this year—a drop driven largely by a collapse in English proficiency from 44.4% to 27.0%. Colbert Heights High School offers consistency, hovering around the 60th percentile for three straight years. Notably, Colbert Heights' 7th-grade English proficiency (67.9%) is exceptionally strong, suggesting a solid middle school foundation that could be built upon. Finally, Deshler spends more per student ($12,124 vs. $10,428) without achieving better outcomes, raising questions about resource efficiency. Families seeking predictability may prefer Colbert Heights, while those willing to accept more risk for higher potential upside might consider Deshler.
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