Summary:
Zip code 35962 in Crossville, Alabama, is home to just one middle school, Crossville Middle School, which serves grades 4 through 8 and enrolls 770 students in the DeKalb County school district.
For parents considering this school, the most important takeaway is that Crossville Middle School is struggling academically across every subject and grade level. The school’s state ranking has slipped to the bottom 7% of Alabama middle schools (413 out of 443), down from the 10th percentile the previous year. Proficiency rates are dramatically below both district and state averages. For example, only 1.38% of 8th graders are proficient in math, compared to 26.36% statewide, and even the school’s best subject—4th grade English at 32.53%—trails the state average by 27 percentage points. There is also a troubling pattern of declining performance as students advance: math proficiency falls from 19.76% in 4th grade to just 1.38% in 8th grade, suggesting cumulative learning gaps that are not being addressed.
On a more positive note, the school has a strong attendance record, with a chronic absenteeism rate of 7.4%—better than both the district (10.6%) and state (12.0%). This indicates students are showing up to class, so the issue lies in instructional effectiveness or resource allocation rather than student engagement. The school serves a high-poverty population, with 82.86% of students receiving free or reduced lunch, and has a student-teacher ratio of 17.2:1 with per-student spending of $8,868. While the DeKalb County district itself ranks in the 47th percentile statewide, Crossville Middle School is a significant outlier performing well below its own district’s averages. Parents should be aware that the school needs targeted intervention, particularly in upper-grade mathematics, to reverse this downward trend.
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