Summary:
Zip code 36106 in Montgomery, AL, is served by two elementary schools within the Montgomery County district, covering grades Pre-K through 5th grade with a combined enrollment of 1,090 students, and no middle or high schools in the immediate area.
These two schools represent a dramatic contrast in educational outcomes. Forest Avenue Elementary School is a statewide standout, ranking #1 out of 686 elementary schools in Alabama for the third consecutive year with a 5-star rating. Its academic performance is near-perfect, with 100% English proficiency in 3rd and 5th grades, and math proficiency ranging from 84.62% to 94.68% across grades. In comparison, Vaughn Road Elementary School ranks 625th (9th percentile) and has seen its ranking decline each year. The achievement gap is staggering—Forest Avenue outperforms Vaughn Road by 70-80 percentage points in both math and English. For example, 3rd-grade math proficiency is 94.68% at Forest Avenue versus just 22.58% at Vaughn Road, and 4th-grade science proficiency is 90.80% versus 25.64%.
Key differentiators include chronic absenteeism (0.8% at Forest Avenue versus 19.7% at Vaughn Road) and socioeconomic factors, with 25.61% of Forest Avenue students receiving free/reduced lunch compared to 80.55% at Vaughn Road. Interestingly, Vaughn Road actually spends more per student ($10,215 versus $7,213) yet achieves far worse results, suggesting that additional funding alone doesn't drive success. Both schools operate within a district ranked in the bottom 20% statewide, making Forest Avenue's #1 ranking even more remarkable. For parents, this zip code demonstrates how dramatically school choice can impact educational outcomes, even within the same district and geographic area.
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