Summary:
Zip code 36502, covering the Atmore area in Escambia County, Alabama, is served by a single public high school, Escambia County High School, which enrolls roughly 390 students in grades 9-12 within the Escambia County district.
As the only high school in this zip code, Escambia County High School faces significant challenges, primarily driven by a high-poverty student population—80% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch. Academic proficiency rates are critically low: only 4.35% of 11th graders are proficient in math, 14.49% in science, and 13.64% in English, all far below state averages by roughly 20 percentage points or more. Chronic absenteeism is a major concern, with 36.6% of students missing substantial school days—triple the state average of 12%. The graduation rate of 86.2% is below the state's 91.5% but is relatively respectable given the economic hurdles the student body faces. The student-teacher ratio sits at 18.5:1, and per-student spending was $13,260 in 2018-19.
Despite these low absolute numbers, there are encouraging signs of progress. Between the 2024-25 and 2025-26 school years, proficiency improved in every subject: math rose from 2.3% to 4.35%, science from 9.2% to 14.49%, and English nearly doubled from 6.9% to 13.64%. This upward trajectory is reflected in the school's state ranking, which improved from the 6th percentile (0 stars) to the 11th percentile (1 star) in just one year. For parents, the key takeaway is that while the school is currently performing in the bottom 11% of Alabama high schools, it is showing measurable year-over-year gains. The most pressing issue to watch is chronic absenteeism, which likely hampers academic growth. If the school can continue its current improvement trend and tackle attendance, it may build on this momentum, though it still has a substantial gap to close to reach state averages.
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