Enrollment
380
High
DISTRICT 465 · STATE 682
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·ETOWAH COUNTY·NCES 010138000496
Gaston High School
4550 US Highway 411, Gadsden, AL 35901 · (256) 547-8828 · Etowah County
GRADES 07–12HIGH41-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL380 STUDENTS
B-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 47% of Alabama public high schools
- C+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- BBeats 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 high schools
Student : Teacher
19.0:1
20 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 18.0:1 · STATE 17.2:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
64%
243 students
DISTRICT 51% · STATE 58%
Community
0
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other high schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 7 | 66 | 17% |
| Grade 8 | 58 | 15% |
| Grade 9 | 72 | 19% |
| Grade 10 | 57 | 15% |
| Grade 11 | 60 | 16% |
| Grade 12 | 67 | 18% |
Student demographics
35%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 30% · 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
41.7%
AL avg 52.7%
Math
7.2%
AL avg 31.8%
What this means: On the ACAP, Alabama's statewide test, about 42 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 7 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
24.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
37.5%
based on AL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-13.4pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 24% 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 Gaston High School
Gaston High School's state test result (24.1% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gaston High School this school | 380 | 63.9% | 24.1% |
| East Lawrence High School Trinity | 408 | 63.0% | 13.3% |
| Falkville High School Falkville | 467 | 63.6% | 26.8% |
| Dora High School Dora | 476 | 61.3% | 26.1% |
| Cottonwood High School Cottonwood | 379 | 59.6% | 34.0% |
| Etowah High School Attalla | 453 | 62.7% | 22.5% |
Matched among Alabama high 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 Gaston High School ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Alabama | In Etowah County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 24.1% | #182 of 305 | #6 of 8 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 7.2% | #244 of 305 | #8 of 8 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 41.7% | #106 of 305 | #2 of 8 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 380 | #232 of 319 | #5 of 8 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 19.0:1 | #252 of 307 | #7 of 8 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 34.8% | #194 of 307 | #4 of 8 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 63.9% | #101 of 317 | #2 of 8 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -32.4% | #20 of 164 | #1 of 6 |
Ranked against other public high 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
380
+51 (+16%) vs 2020
-46% since 1990-91, when it was 702
Student : Teacher
19.0:1
was 14.9:1
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 | 380 | 20 | 19.0:1 | 64% (243) |
| 2023-24 | 362 | 20 | 18.1:1 | 75% (270) |
| 2022-23 | 368 | 19 | 19.4:1 | 75% (276) |
| 2020-21 | 329 | 22 | 14.9:1 | 63% (207) |
| 2017-18 | 562 | 36.5 | 15.4:1 | 68% (384) |
| 2015-16 | 592 | 35 | 16.9:1 | 70% (414) |
| 2010-11 | 593 | 41 | 14.5:1 | 62% (365) |
| 2000-01 | 650 | 38 | 17.1:1 | 33% (217) |
| 1990-91 | 702 | 35 | 20.1:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Gaston High School.
Since 2017-18: students down 32% (562 to 380); teachers down 45% (36.5 to 20).
About Gaston High School
Gaston High School is the name of a low-enrollment high school in Gadsden, Alabama. There are 380 students enrolled, covering grades 7 through 12. Across high schools in Alabama, the average enrollment is about 682.
District-wide, Etowah County has 22 schools and 8,739 students.
Gaston High School is 80% White by enrollment. The rest of enrollment is 8% multiracial, 5% Hispanic, and 5% Black. That is in line with Etowah County, where about 77% of residents are White. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, Gaston High School scores 35%.
Classroom staffing at Gaston High School totals 20 full-time-equivalent teachers, and the student-to-teacher ratio is 19.0:1. The average for high schools in Alabama, 17.2:1, is lower. Free or reduced-price lunch eligibility at Gaston High School is about 64%.
Among Alabama public high schools, Gaston High School outscored 47%, which works out to a B- on the allk12 Grade.
On BeatsExpectations, Gaston High School is 13.4 points below its prediction, a result in the middle 80% of Alabama schools.
The school is in Etowah County, where the median household earns about $54,563 a year, about 18% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 12%. Gaston High School shares Etowah County with 41 other public schools.
Less than a tenth of a mile separates Gaston High School from the closest public school, Gaston Elementary School. Within five miles are 3 other public schools. Gaston High School is 6th of 8 nearby schools by average proficiency rate.
Gaston High School falls in the Rural: Fringe locale category, used for schools in rural territory close to an urban area.
The 2020-21-to-2024-25 change in enrollment was a 16% rise, from 329 to 380. The ratio was 14.9:1 in 2020-21 and 19.0:1 in 2024-25.
This page collects posts and questions about Gaston High School, such as open houses, carpools, and field trips. Current and former families are welcome to add their experience.
Etowah County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
103,105
Census ACS
Median income
$54,563
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
18%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
12%
Below federal line
Schools in county
42
15,139 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Etowah County
- Southside High SchoolHigh · 825 students
- John S Jones Elementary SchoolElementary · 745 students
- Rainbow Middle SchoolMiddle · 634 students
- Hokes Bluff Elementary SchoolElementary · 610 students
- Southside Elementary SchoolElementary · 585 students
- Sardis High SchoolHigh · 546 students
Other schools in Gadsden
- Gadsden City High SchoolHigh · 1,361 students
- Gadsden Middle SchoolMiddle · 438 students
- Adams Elementary SchoolElementary · 433 students
- W E Striplin Elementary SchoolElementary · 400 students
- Floyd Elementary SchoolElementary · 384 students
- Eura Brown Elementary SchoolElementary · 340 students
Nearby schools
- Gaston Elementary School0.0 mi · 290
- Thompson Elementary School3.1 mi · 288
- Highland Elementary School3.7 mi · 216
- Hokes Bluff High School5.0 mi · 371
- Litchfield Middle School5.1 mi · 252
- Adams Elementary School5.2 mi · 433
Frequently asked questions
About Gaston High SchoolHow large is Gaston High School?
Gaston High School enrolls approximately 380 students in grades 07-12.
What grades does Gaston High School serve?
Gaston High School serves grades 07-12.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Gaston High School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Gaston High School is approximately 19.0:1 (20 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Gaston High School?
At Gaston High School, the student body is approximately 80% White, 5% Hispanic, 5% Black, 1% Asian, 8% Two or more.
Is Gaston High School public or private?
Gaston High School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Etowah County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.