Summary:
Zip code 36748 is home to just one middle school, George P Austin Junior High School, a small school in Linden, AL serving grades 6 through 8 with an enrollment of only 77 students.
For parents considering this school, the most striking finding is a significant split in academic performance. The school's standout subject is 8th grade science, where 61.11% of students scored proficient in 2025-2026—actually beating the state average of 54.12%. This is a remarkable bright spot. However, mathematics is a critical area of concern. Proficiency rates are drastically below state averages across all grade levels, with 7th grade math at just 3.7% proficiency compared to the state's 24.46%, and 6th grade math at 9.09% versus the state's 35.22%. English performance falls in between, with 8th grade showing the strongest results at 50% proficiency, close to the state average of 58.53%. The gap between subjects is stark—7th grade English proficiency (48.15%) was 13 times higher than 7th grade math proficiency.
The school faces significant socioeconomic challenges, with 90.91% of students eligible for free or reduced lunch. Chronic absenteeism stands at 13.4%, which is slightly above the state average of 12.0% but below the Linden City district average of 15.6%. The student-teacher ratio is favorable at 15.4, and per-student spending is $11,010. On a positive note, the school's state ranking has been improving, moving from the 12th percentile in 2023-2024 to the 28th percentile in 2025-2026. However, given the very small student body, year-over-year test scores can swing dramatically based on just a few students, making it difficult to establish stable trends. While the school remains in the bottom third of Alabama schools, the strong science scores and improving ranking suggest some recent progress, though math instruction clearly needs urgent attention.
Thank you for your feedback!