Summary:
Zip code 36016 is home to just one high school, Barbour County High School, which serves grades 7 through 12 in Clayton, Alabama, with 297 students enrolled.
For parents considering this area, the most important thing to know is that Barbour County High School faces significant challenges, but also shows some promising recent gains. The school serves a high-poverty population, with nearly 88% of students qualifying for free or reduced lunch. Academically, math proficiency is critically low—only about 2% of 11th graders meet state standards, compared to 27% statewide. Science proficiency is also well below average, though it improved slightly in the latest year. The most encouraging news is in English: 11th grade proficiency tripled from 7.4% to 23.1%, and 8th grade English jumped to 47.7% proficiency. Younger students consistently outperform older ones in English, suggesting instruction may be improving for lower grades. The school's overall ranking has been volatile, dropping to the bottom 4% of Alabama high schools in 2024-2025 before rebounding to the 15th percentile in 2025-2026.
One of the biggest red flags is chronic absenteeism—53.3% of students are chronically absent, which is more than four times the state average of 12%. This likely contributes to the academic struggles and ranking swings. The graduation rate of 84% trails the state average of 91.5%. The student-teacher ratio is a reasonable 14.1:1, and per-student spending is about $12,688. Since this is the only high school in the Barbour County district, the school's performance directly mirrors district-wide results. While the school clearly has systemic issues in math and attendance, the recent improvements in English and science suggest that targeted efforts may be starting to pay off, especially for younger students who could carry those gains through high school.
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