Summary:
Zip code 35805 in Huntsville, Alabama, is home to just one middle school, Morris Middle School, which serves grades 6 through 8 and enrolls 397 students within the Huntsville City district.
For parents considering this area, Morris Middle School presents a mixed picture. The school’s most impressive statistic is its chronic absenteeism rate of just 3.8%, far below the district’s 8.2% and the state’s 12.0%—a remarkable achievement given that 74% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch. This suggests strong daily attendance and engagement, which is a positive foundation for learning. Academically, however, the school struggles significantly, especially in math. Proficiency rates are dramatically below state averages across all grades: 6th grade math sits at 12.2% (state: 35.2%), 7th grade at 10.8% (state: 24.5%), and 8th grade at just 5.6% (state: 26.4%). The math gap widens as students advance, indicating a compounding challenge. English performance is comparatively stronger, with 8th grade proficiency at 44.3% versus the state’s 58.5%, and science is the brightest spot at 38.7% proficiency, reaching 72% of the state average.
There are some encouraging signs. The school’s state ranking improved from the 14th percentile in 2023-2024 to the 21st percentile in 2025-2026, and 7th and 8th grade math scores improved year-over-year. However, 6th grade math proficiency dropped sharply from 21.5% to 12.2%, which may signal a cohort-specific issue. With a student-teacher ratio of 15.8:1, class sizes are reasonable. Overall, Morris Middle School excels at getting kids to school but needs targeted math intervention, particularly for incoming 6th graders, to translate that attendance into stronger academic outcomes.
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