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If you had an hour of school board time for Challenger Middle School, what would you bring up?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
425
Middle
DISTRICT 442 · STATE 508
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·HUNTSVILLE CITY·NCES 010180001774
Challenger Middle School
13555 Chaney Thompson Rd, Huntsville, AL 35803 · (256) 428-7620 · Madison County
GRADES 06–09MIDDLE12-CITYREGULAR SCHOOL425 STUDENTS
B+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 70% of Alabama public middle schools
- A-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- B-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Alabama public middle schools
Student : Teacher
18.5:1
23 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 17.9:1 · STATE 17.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
35%
150 students
DISTRICT 50% · STATE 58%
Community
6
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other middle schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 135 | 32% |
| Grade 7 | 142 | 33% |
| Grade 8 | 147 | 35% |
| Grade 9 | 1 | 0% |
Student demographics
65%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 69% · STATE 63% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
ACAP 2024-25 . % ProficientEnglish Language Arts
74.4%
AL avg 52.7%
Math
36.8%
AL avg 31.8%
What this means: On the ACAP, Alabama's statewide test, about 74 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 37 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Alabama schools, those numbers are about 53 and 32.
Source: ACAP. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
57.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
58.3%
based on AL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-0.7pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 58% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 58% typical for Alabama schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Alabama's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Challenger Middle School
Challenger Middle School's state test result (57.6% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Challenger Middle School this school | 425 | 35.3% | 57.6% |
| Dauphin Junior High School Enterprise | 481 | 41.2% | 67.8% |
| Mountain Gap Middle School Huntsville | 366 | 33.6% | 62.3% |
| Muscle Shoals Middle School Muscle Shoals | 642 | 33.2% | 67.4% |
| Jefferson County International Baccalaureate School Pleasant Grove | 345 | 38.3% | 90.8% |
| Northport Intermediate School Northport | 500 | 44.0% | 56.5% |
Matched among Alabama middle schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Challenger Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Alabama | In Madison County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 57.6% | #53 of 260 | #7 of 19 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 36.8% | #73 of 260 | #8 of 19 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 74.4% | #46 of 260 | #7 of 19 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 425 | #147 of 265 | #13 of 19 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 18.5:1 | #144 of 244 | #9 of 18 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 65.2% | #21 of 246 | #6 of 18 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 35.3% | #225 of 264 | #11 of 19 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -3.2% | #130 of 151 | #6 of 6 |
Ranked against other public middle schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
425
-68 (-14%) vs 2020
-10% since 1990-91, when it was 473
Student : Teacher
18.5:1
was 19.7:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 425 | 23 | 18.5:1 | 35% (150) |
| 2023-24 | 428 | 26 | 16.5:1 | 43% (186) |
| 2022-23 | 438 | 26 | 16.9:1 | 44% (192) |
| 2020-21 | 493 | 25 | 19.7:1 | 31% (152) |
| 2017-18 | 439 | 24 | 18.3:1 | 32% (141) |
| 2015-16 | 469 | 29 | 16.2:1 | 38% (180) |
| 2010-11 | 548 | 41 | 13.4:1 | 27% (150) |
| 2000-01 | 653 | 43 | 15.2:1 | 8% (49) |
| 1990-91 | 473 | 27 | 17.5:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Challenger Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students down 3% (439 to 425); teachers down 4% (24 to 23).
About Challenger Middle School
Federal records list Challenger Middle School as a middle school in Huntsville, Alabama. It had 425 students in 2024-25, spanning grades 6 through 9.
Challenger Middle School belongs to Huntsville City, a district of 44 schools and 24,222 students.
Federal enrollment data show Challenger Middle School is 52% White. Enrollment also includes 23% Black, 16% Hispanic, 7% multiracial, and 3% Asian. The school's White share is 11 points below the 63% share among Madison County residents. A diversity index of 65% means there is a 65% chance two randomly chosen students at Challenger Middle School are from different groups.
For every teacher at Challenger Middle School, there are about 18.5 students; the school has 23 full-time-equivalent teachers. The average for middle schools in Alabama is about 17.9:1. There are 150 students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, 35% of enrollment.
Challenger Middle School holds a B+ allk12 Grade, placing it above 70% of Alabama public middle schools.
Challenger Middle School scores 57.6% on state tests, averaged across results. The predicted figure, based on its student poverty level, is 58.3%.
For the population of Madison County, the median household earns about $86,499 a year, about 46% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 7%. Challenger Middle School shares Madison County with 88 other public schools.
Straight-line distance to the nearest public school, Challenger Elementary School, is less than a tenth of a mile. Other public schools within five miles: at least 8. Compared with its nearest neighbors, Challenger Middle School ranks 6th of 9 on average proficiency.
NCES assigns Challenger Middle School the locale City: Mid-size, meaning inside a principal city with a population between 100,000 and 250,000.
From 2020-21 to 2024-25, enrollment decreased from 493 to 425, a 14% decline. Federal data show the ratio falling from 19.7:1 to 18.5:1.
This community page is for conversations about athletics, class schedules, and weather closures. You can also rate the school on this page.
Madison County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
405,718
Census ACS
Median income
$86,499
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
46%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
89
55,800 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Huntsville City
- Virgil Grissom High SchoolHigh · 1,847 students
- Huntsville High SchoolHigh · 1,807 students
- Providence ElementaryElementary · 1,152 students
- GoldsmithSchiffman ElementaryElementary · 935 students
- Columbia High SchoolHigh · 916 students
- Lee High SchoolHigh · 877 students
Other schools in Huntsville
- Virgil Grissom High SchoolHigh · 1,847 students
- Huntsville High SchoolHigh · 1,807 students
- Providence ElementaryElementary · 1,152 students
- Monrovia Middle SchoolMiddle · 988 students
- Columbia High SchoolHigh · 916 students
- Lee High SchoolHigh · 877 students
Other Challenger Middle schools
6 other US public schools in 5 states are named Challenger Middle. Challenger Middle School is the 6th largest of the 7.
- CHALLENGER MIDDLE SCHOOLCAPE CORAL, FL · 999 students
- Challenger MiddleSan Diego, CA · 960 students
- Challenger Middle SchoolGLENDALE, AZ · 839 students
- Challenger Middle SchoolCOLORADO SPRINGS, CO · 696 students
- Challenger Middle SchoolTUCSON, AZ · 590 students
Nearby schools
- Challenger Elementary School0.0 mi · 491
- Mountain Gap Elementary School1.0 mi · 341
- Mountain Gap Middle School1.0 mi · 366
- Farley Elementary School1.3 mi · 334
- Weatherly Heights Elementary School2.2 mi · 472
- Virgil Grissom High School2.7 mi · 1,847
Frequently asked questions
About Challenger Middle SchoolHow large is Challenger Middle School?
Challenger Middle School enrolls approximately 425 students in grades 06-09.
What grades does Challenger Middle School serve?
Challenger Middle School serves grades 06-09.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Challenger Middle School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Challenger Middle School is approximately 18.5:1 (23 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Challenger Middle School?
At Challenger Middle School, the student body is approximately 52% White, 16% Hispanic, 23% Black, 3% Asian, 7% Two or more.
Who oversees Challenger Middle School?
Challenger Middle School is overseen by Huntsville City in Madison County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.