Summary:
Zip code 36426 in Brewton, Alabama, is home to two public high schools serving grades 9-12: T.R. Miller High School and W.S. Neal High School, which together educate roughly 743 students in a small, close-knit community.
For parents comparing these two schools, the differences are striking despite their similar size and location. T.R. Miller High School, part of the Brewton City district, is the clear academic leader. It boasts a 97.5% graduation rate, well above the state average of 91.5%, and outperforms its counterpart by 14 to 29 percentage points in every subject. For example, 48.7% of T.R. Miller students are proficient in science versus just 19.4% at W.S. Neal High School. T.R. Miller also has a much healthier attendance culture, with a chronic absenteeism rate of 12.3%—nearly identical to the state average—while W.S. Neal's rate is a concerning 32.9%, nearly three times higher. Both schools spend almost the same amount per student (about $11,450), so the gap in outcomes isn't about funding; it points to how resources and interventions are deployed.
However, there are encouraging signs at W.S. Neal High School, which operates under the Escambia County district. Its English proficiency jumped from 8.8% to 29.4% in a single year—a remarkable 234% relative improvement—and math proficiency also rose. Meanwhile, T.R. Miller High School saw declines in math and English, causing its state ranking to slip from 25th to 72nd. For parents, the takeaway is clear: T.R. Miller currently offers the strongest academics and attendance, but W.S. Neal is showing momentum. The single most impactful factor to watch is chronic absenteeism—addressing W.S. Neal's 32.9% rate could be the key to closing the achievement gap in this zip code.
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