Schools in Zip Code 36571

Zip code 36571 in Saraland, Alabama, is served by the Saraland City school district, which includes four schools—Saraland Early Education Center (PK-1), Saraland Elementary School (2-5), Saraland Middle School – Adams Campus (6-8), and Saraland High School (9-12)—serving roughly 3,514 students in a district ranked #4 out of 139 statewide.

This district stands out for its consistent excellence across all grade levels. Saraland Elementary School is the academic powerhouse, ranking #23 of 686 elementary schools, with 5th-grade math proficiency at 78.6% versus the state's 39.06%—nearly double. Saraland Middle School – Adams Campus excels in science, with 8th-grade proficiency at 87.6%, a remarkable 33.5 points above the state average. Saraland High School ranks #24 of 380 and has shown the most dramatic improvement, climbing from #44 to #24 over three years while maintaining a 98.4% graduation rate. The elementary school achieves the highest test scores despite having the highest free/reduced lunch rate (50.58%), demonstrating that socioeconomic factors are not limiting achievement here.

Math is the district's biggest competitive advantage, with proficiency rates roughly double the state average at every grade level. However, a notable anomaly exists: 7th-grade math drops to 43.21% from 6th-grade's 72.9%, before rebounding to 63.37% in 8th grade. The Saraland Early Education Center presents a concern with chronic absenteeism at 12.9%, above the state average and nearly double the elementary school's 6.7%. The high school receives the highest per-student spending ($10,625, 28.6% more than elementary), which appears to be paying off given its strong graduation rate and improving scores. Class sizes don't correlate with performance—the middle school has the highest student-teacher ratio (20.1:1) yet achieves excellent results, suggesting curriculum quality and instruction are the true drivers of this district's success.