Summary:
Zip code 36511, encompassing the rural community of Bon Secour, Alabama, is served by a single school: Swift Elementary School, which is part of the Baldwin County school district and serves grades PK through 6.
For parents considering this area, Swift Elementary School is a small school with just 155 students, offering a favorable student-to-teacher ratio of 12.4:1 and a high per-student expenditure of $17,030. However, the school faces significant academic challenges. The most pressing concern is a chronic absenteeism rate of 18.3%, which is substantially higher than both the district average (11.2%) and the state average (12.0%). Academically, the school shows a clear pattern of decline as students progress. While 3rd graders perform at or above state averages in both English Language Arts (68.42% vs. 64.75% state) and Math (52.63% vs. 44.89% state), proficiency drops dramatically by 4th and 5th grades. The most alarming statistic is 5th-grade Math proficiency, which sits at just 5.88%—meaning over 94% of 5th graders are not proficient—compared to the state average of 39.06%. Science proficiency in 4th grade (33.33%) also trails the state average (50.23%).
Despite strong financial resources and small class sizes, the school's overall state ranking remains low, hovering in the bottom third of Alabama schools (467th out of 686). The high poverty rate (74.19% of students eligible for free/reduced lunch) combined with high absenteeism likely undermines the potential benefits of these resources. There is a positive trend in 3rd-grade Math, which improved from 25% to 52.63% year-over-year, but this gain is not sustained in later grades. Parents should be aware that while early elementary education shows promise, the school struggles significantly with upper-elementary Math and Science, and the absenteeism rate is a critical issue that directly impacts learning outcomes.
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