Summary:
Zip code 36271 is home to just one high school, Ohatchee High School, a small 7-12 campus in Ohatchee, Alabama, serving 391 students within the Calhoun County school district.
For parents, the most important takeaway is that Ohatchee High School offers a tight-knit environment with a strong graduation rate of 93.2%, which beats the state average of 91.5%. However, the school has seen its state ranking fall sharply over the past two years, from 87th to 220th out of roughly 380 schools. This decline is driven by weak test scores in the upper grades—particularly 11th grade, where math proficiency sits at just 17.5% (nearly 10 points below the state average) and science proficiency is 22.8% (more than 13 points below the state). The picture is more encouraging in middle school: 7th grade math proficiency jumped 15.8 points to 29%, now exceeding both district and state averages, and 8th grade science soared 22.4 points to 50.9%. Yet these gains don't carry through to high school, and 11th grade English and science both dropped significantly year-over-year.
A major red flag is chronic absenteeism, which stands at 17.4%—45% higher than the state average of 12% and 72% higher than the district's 10.1%. This likely explains why middle school improvements don't translate to high school success. With only about 65 students per grade, individual performance swings can heavily skew school-wide statistics, which may account for some of the year-to-year volatility. The school serves a moderately disadvantaged population, with 44.5% of students qualifying for free or reduced lunch, and per-student spending is $9,824. While the graduation rate is solid, parents should be aware that academic proficiency in the upper grades lags state norms, and the absenteeism problem is a serious concern that families should monitor closely.
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