Fort Payne Middle School

Set in Fort Payne, Alabama, Fort Payne Middle School is an average-sized junior high, operated by Fort Payne City. It instructs 741 students across grades 6 through 8. Enrollment runs roughly 46% larger than the state mean of about 508.

Fort Payne City comprises 5 schools with combined enrollment of 3,508 students; Fort Payne Middle School is among them.

Demographically, Fort Payne Middle School lists that 48% of students identify as White, with the remaining enrollment distributed across several groups. Beyond that, the school reports 44% Hispanic, 4% multiracial, 2% Black. By comparison, DeKalb County as a whole is about 80% White, so the school skews considerably less White than its surroundings.

Looking at school resources, Fort Payne Middle School records 47 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 15.8:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 17.9:1, putting Fort Payne Middle School tighter than the state norm the norm. Around 63% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator.

After controlling for student poverty, Fort Payne Middle School performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 38.0%, the actual is 48.6%, a residual of +10.6 points.

In the broader community, census data for DeKalb County shows median household income runs about $51,204, roughly 14% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 16%. Fort Payne Middle School is one of 20 public schools in DeKalb County (combined enrollment of about 12,277 students).

Nearest neighbor: Fort Payne High School, around 0.4 miles off. Within five miles, there are 4 other public schools. On composite proficiency, Fort Payne Middle School comes 1st of 7 in the immediate cluster, above the nearby-schools average of 35.0%.

Fort Payne Middle School operates from a town-based location.

Trend over the last 7 years. Over the past 7-year window, the student count ticked down 30%: 1,057 students in 2018 compared to 741 in 2025. White enrollment moved from 54% to 48% across the same window. Class-load math has pulled in: from 19.8:1 in 2018 to 15.8:1 in 2025.

Inside the community feed, members of the Fort Payne Middle School community share and discuss fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.