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Schools›Alabama›Decatur
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·DECATUR CITY·NCES 010117000433

Decatur Middle School

1011 Prospect Drive SE, Decatur, AL 35601 · (256) 552-3035 · Morgan County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE13-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL818 STUDENTS
C+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 35% of Alabama public middle schools
  • C+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
  • C+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

Enrollment
818
Middle
DISTRICT 773 · STATE 508
Student : Teacher
16.0:1
51 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.4:1 · STATE 17.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
64%
520 students
DISTRICT 64% · 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

GradeStudentsShare
Grade 625531%
Grade 728234%
Grade 828134%
Student demographics
70%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 71% · STATE 63% · US 70%
White
26332%
DISTRICT 27% · STATE 50% · US 43%
Hispanic
30838%
DISTRICT 37% · STATE 12% · US 30%
Black
19524%
DISTRICT 29% · STATE 31% · US 15%
Asian
51%
DISTRICT 1% · STATE 1% · US 6%
Two+
445%
DISTRICT 6% · STATE 4% · US 5%
Native American
30%
DISTRICT 0% · STATE 1% · US 1%
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
Male
41851%
Female
40049%

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Test scores

ACAP 2024-25 . % Proficient
English Language Arts
47.3%
AL avg 52.7%
Math
19.2%
AL avg 31.8%

What this means: On the ACAP, Alabama's statewide test, about 47 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 19 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 · methodology
Tier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
35.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
37.8%
based on AL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-2.8pp
below demographic expectation

What this means: About 35% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 38% 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 Decatur Middle School

Decatur Middle School's state test result (35.0% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.

SchoolStudentsLow-incomeProficient
Decatur Middle School this school81863.6%35.0%
Foley Middle School
Foley
82362.8%37.8%
Austin Middle School
Decatur
72764.8%38.5%
Fort Payne Middle School
Fort Payne
74163.3%48.6%
Whitesburg Middle School
Huntsville
53557.9%25.2%
Athens Middle School
Athens
93559.3%39.1%
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 Decatur Middle School ranks

Among middle schools
MeasureThis schoolIn AlabamaIn Morgan County
State test proficiency
ranked highest first
35.0%#162 of 260#7 of 7
Math proficiency
ranked highest first
19.2%#163 of 260#7 of 7
Reading proficiency
ranked highest first
47.3%#178 of 260#7 of 7
Enrollment
ranked largest first
818#33 of 265#1 of 7
Students per teacher
ranked fewest first
16.0:1#56 of 244#4 of 7
Diversity index
ranked most diverse first
69.5%#7 of 246#2 of 7
Free and reduced lunch
ranked highest share first
63.6%#101 of 264#3 of 7
Enrollment change since 2017-18
ranked fastest growth first
+26.8%#17 of 79N/A
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 2024-25
Enrollment
818
-75 (-8%) vs 2020
-2% since 1990-91, when it was 834
Student : Teacher
16.0:1
was 16.9:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data

Enrollment and staffing by year

School yearStudentsTeachers (FTE)Students per teacherFree and reduced lunch
2024-258185116.0:164% (520)
2023-2479253.514.8:164% (504)
2022-2381554.514.9:177% (624)
2020-218935316.9:170% (628)
2017-186453717.4:164% (410)
2015-166623917.0:164% (422)
2000-016394414.5:141% (260)
1990-918345016.7:1N/A
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Decatur Middle School.

Since 2017-18: students up 27% (645 to 818); teachers up 38% (37 to 51).

About Decatur Middle School

Decatur Middle School is a large middle-grades school for students in Decatur, Alabama. Enrollment in 2024-25 was 818 students in grades 6 through 8. Against the 508-student average for middle schools in Alabama, enrollment here is 61% higher.

Decatur City includes 19 schools. Together they enroll 8,902 students.

At Decatur Middle School, the largest share of students is Hispanic, at 38%. The school is also 32% White, 24% Black, and 5% multiracial. That is higher than the 11% Hispanic share among all Morgan County residents. The school's diversity index is 70%, meaning two students picked at random have a 70% chance of belonging to different racial or ethnic groups.

The teaching staff at Decatur Middle School is 51 full-time-equivalent teachers, and the ratio is 16.0:1. This ratio sits 1.9 below the 17.9:1 average for middle schools in Alabama. The percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch is 64%. The 56% average for public schools in Morgan County is 8 points lower.

The allk12 Grade for Decatur Middle School is C+. Compared with Alabama public middle schools, the school scored higher than 35% on a mix of test scores, poverty-adjusted results, and recent trend.

The allk12 BeatsExpectations score for Decatur Middle School is -2.8 points: 35.0% actual, 37.8% predicted.

In the county around the school, Morgan County, the median household income is $68,845, roughly 23% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 9% of residents live below the federal poverty line. There are 46 public schools in Morgan County, enrolling about 20,204 students in all.

Decatur High School is the closest public school, about 0.1 miles away in a straight line. In all, at least 8 other public schools sit within five miles of Decatur Middle School. On state test proficiency, Decatur Middle School ranks 3rd in a group of 7 nearby schools.

Decatur Middle School is inside a principal city with a population under 100,000, a location NCES labels City: Small.

Enrollment is down 8% from 2020-21, when Decatur Middle School had 893 students, to 2024-25, when it had 818.

Questions about enrollment questions, class placement, and PTA news can be posted here. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.

Morgan County at a glance

View full county profile
Population
124,471
Census ACS
Median income
$68,845
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
23%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
9%
Below federal line
Schools in county
46
20,204 students

Quick facts

School name
Decatur Middle School
District
Decatur City
Address
1011 Prospect Drive SE, Decatur, AL 35601
Phone
(256) 552-3035
County
Morgan County
Level
Middle
Grade range
06–08
Total enrollment
818
Teachers (FTE)
51
Student–teacher ratio
16.0:1
Free and reduced lunch
520 (64%)
Locale
13-City: Small
NCES ID
010117000433
Charter school
No
Virtual school
No

Related schools

Other schools in Decatur City
Other schools in Decatur
Other Decatur Middle schools

2 other US public schools in 3 states are named Decatur Middle. Decatur Middle School is the 2nd largest of the 3.

Nearby schools

Frequently asked questions

About Decatur Middle School
What is the total enrollment at Decatur Middle School?
Decatur Middle School enrolls approximately 818 students in grades 06-08.
What age range does Decatur Middle School serve?
Decatur Middle School serves students from grade 06 through grade 08.
How many students per teacher at Decatur Middle School?
Approximately 16.0:1 students per teacher at Decatur Middle School.
How diverse is Decatur Middle School?
Decatur Middle School reports a student body of 32% White, 38% Hispanic, 24% Black, 1% Asian, 5% Two or more.
Who oversees Decatur Middle School?
Decatur Middle School is overseen by Decatur City in Morgan County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.
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