Best Public Schools in Zip Code 36432

Zip code 36432 is home to just one school, Conecuh County Junior High School, a small public school in Castleberry, Alabama, serving grades PK through 8 within the Conecuh County district.

For parents in this area, Conecuh County Junior High School is the only educational option, meaning all local elementary and middle school students attend the same facility. With just 118 students and a student-teacher ratio of 18.1:1, classes are relatively small, which can allow for more individual attention. A notable strength is the school's chronic absenteeism rate of just 5.0%, which is far better than both the district (12.6%) and state (12.0%) averages—students here are consistently showing up to class. However, academic performance is a significant concern. The school consistently ranks in the bottom 20% of all Alabama schools, with a state ranking that has remained nearly unchanged for three years (546th, 553rd, and 557th out of roughly 680 schools), indicating a plateau in achievement. Proficiency rates are low, particularly in 4th-grade science, where only 12.5% of students are proficient compared to the state average of 42.61%.

There are some bright spots worth noting. The 6th-grade cohort actually outperforms the district average in both math (23.08% vs. 12.12%) and English (46.15% vs. 28.28%), suggesting that instructional strategies may become more effective in the middle school grades. Additionally, the school spends a relatively high $13,005 per student, which indicates funding is not the primary obstacle. The main challenge appears to be translating strong attendance and adequate funding into academic success, likely due to the high-poverty environment—70.34% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch. Parents should be aware that while the school provides a stable, well-attended environment, significant academic support may be needed to help students reach grade-level proficiency.