Summary:
Zip code 36613 in Eight Mile, Alabama, is served by a single public high school, Mattie T Blount High School, which enrolls 1,058 students in grades 9 through 12 as part of the Mobile County school district.
For parents, the most striking feature of Mattie T Blount High School is the paradox between excellent attendance and low academic achievement. The school boasts an exceptionally low chronic absenteeism rate of just 2.6%, far better than the district (12.8%) and state (12.0%) averages, meaning students are consistently in class. However, 11th-grade proficiency rates are dramatically below both district and state levels: only 10.37% are proficient in math (vs. 22.12% district, 27.21% state), 19.5% in science (vs. 28.94% district, 36.17% state), and 15% in English (vs. 28.57% district, 33.73% state). The school ranks in the bottom 20th percentile of Alabama high schools. On a positive note, the graduation rate is a solid 90.7%, surpassing the district average of 85.9% and nearly matching the state's 91.5%.
There are encouraging signs of momentum. From 2024-2025 to 2025-2026, proficiency rates improved significantly across all subjects—math rose from 6.83% to 10.37%, science from 12.23% to 19.5%, and English nearly doubled from 7.25% to 15%. This suggests recent instructional changes may be taking effect. However, with 77.6% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, the school faces substantial economic challenges. The combination of high attendance, strong graduation rates, but low test scores points to a potential disconnect between graduation requirements and state assessment benchmarks, raising questions about college and career readiness despite students earning diplomas. The student-teacher ratio of 18.5 and per-student spending of $9,949 are typical, indicating the issue may lie in instructional quality or the impact of poverty rather than resources or attendance.
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