Summary:
Zip code 36602 is home to just one middle school, Barton Academy For Advanced World Studies, a specialized academy in Mobile, Alabama, serving grades 6 through 9 with 311 students.
For parents, this is a truly exceptional school. Barton Academy ranks #3 in Alabama out of 443 middle schools, placing it in the 99th percentile with a 5-star rating. It has been in the top 8 in the state for three consecutive years, so this is not a fluke. Academically, the school crushes both district and state averages. In 6th-grade English, 100% of students are proficient, and 8th-grade English is at 98.67%. Science proficiency is 90.67% in 8th grade, and math proficiency ranges from 48.24% in 7th grade to 75.79% in 6th grade. The one clear weakness is 7th-grade math, which drops significantly from 6th grade and is also below the school's own 8th-grade performance—a pattern worth investigating. The school also has a remarkably low chronic absenteeism rate of just 1.2%, compared to 12.8% for the Mobile County district, indicating highly engaged students and families.
The contrast with the surrounding district is stark. While Barton Academy performs in the 99th percentile statewide, the Mobile County district ranks in the 33rd percentile. The school outperforms its district by 40-50 percentage points in most subjects. Only 20.58% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch, which is a much lower rate than the surrounding area, raising questions about access and equity. The school's unusual 6-9 grade span provides extra continuity during the transition to high school. With a student-teacher ratio of 16.3:1, the school maintains manageable class sizes. In short, Barton Academy is an elite institution delivering world-class results, but its selective demographics and the 7th-grade math dip are important factors for parents to consider.
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