Summary:
The 36371 zip code is home to a single public middle school, South Dale Middle School, which serves grades 5-8 with a total enrollment of 410 students. The school is part of the Dale County school district, which is ranked 26th out of 135 districts in Alabama and has a 4-star rating from SchoolDigger.
South Dale Middle School's performance on standardized tests appears to be consistently in the middle range, with some grades performing above the state average but below the county average, and other grades performing below both. The school's high free/reduced lunch rate of 78.29% indicates a significant portion of the student population comes from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, which could be a contributing factor to the school's academic performance. Over the past three school years, the school's statewide ranking among Alabama middle schools has fluctuated, with a drop from 157th in 2023-2024 to 206th in 2022-2023, suggesting the school may be losing ground compared to its peers across the state.
The school's relatively low performance in mathematics, particularly in the upper grades, and its high chronic absenteeism rate of 14.8% could be areas of focus for improvement. While the school has some strengths, such as its 8th grade science proficiency rate being slightly above the state average, it appears to have significant room for improvement, especially in addressing the needs of its economically disadvantaged student population.
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