Summary:
Zip code 35905 is home to a single middle school, Glencoe Middle School, which serves grades 5 through 8 and enrolls 272 students in the Etowah County district.
Glencoe Middle School is a solid performer overall, ranking 174th out of 443 Alabama middle schools (61st percentile, 3 stars). Its biggest standout is 8th-grade science, where 74% of students are proficient—nearly 20 points above both the district and state averages. The school also shines in 7th-grade English (69.44% proficiency) and maintains an exceptionally low chronic absenteeism rate of just 7%, compared to 15% for the district and 12% statewide. This is especially notable given that 47.43% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, a demographic often associated with higher absenteeism. The student-teacher ratio is 16.6 to 1, and per-student spending was $6,661 (2018-2019 data).
However, performance is uneven across grades and subjects. In math, 5th graders lead with 28.17% proficiency, while 6th graders lag at just 16.13%. The school outperforms its district in 7th and 8th-grade math but falls behind in 5th and 6th. The most concerning trend is in English: 5th and 7th graders score well above state averages, but 6th-grade proficiency plunges to 41.94%—a dramatic 31.67-point drop for the same cohort from the previous year. This suggests a possible issue with 6th-grade instruction or curriculum. Math scores also show significant year-over-year volatility, with 8th-grade proficiency jumping from 8.7% to 24% in one year, while 6th-grade dropped from 25.71% to 16.13%. For parents, this means the school has clear strengths in upper-grade science and English, but lower grades (5th and 6th) may need extra attention, particularly in math and 6th-grade English.
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