Summary:
Zip code 36609 in Mobile, Alabama, is home to just one public high school, WP Davidson High School, which serves grades 9 through 12 with an enrollment of 1,470 students.
For parents considering this area, WP Davidson High School stands out as a strong academic performer, particularly given that 55.1% of its students qualify for free or reduced lunch. In the most recent school year, the school dramatically outperformed both the Mobile County district and the state of Alabama in every core subject. Proficiency rates hit 43.91% in math, 45.02% in science, and 44.81% in English—roughly 16 to 22 percentage points higher than the district average in each area. The school has consistently earned a 4-star rating from the state, ranking in the 89th percentile of Alabama high schools in the latest year. This academic success is especially notable because the school achieved it while spending a modest $8,271 per student and maintaining a student-teacher ratio of 18.6 to 1.
However, there are important challenges to be aware of. Despite excellent test scores, WP Davidson High School has a graduation rate of just 81.8%, which trails the district by 4.1 points and the state by 9.7 points. Chronic absenteeism is a likely contributing factor, with 18.7% of students chronically absent—56% higher than the state average. The school also showed a remarkable single-year improvement in test scores of 12 to 15 percentage points across all subjects, which is exceptional and may reflect new instructional strategies or a particularly strong cohort. In short, this is a school that excels at pushing its students to high academic achievement, but parents should be aware that attendance and on-time graduation remain areas needing significant attention.
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