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Teachers: what resource would make the biggest difference at Helena High School this year?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
1,383
High
DISTRICT 970 · STATE 682
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·SHELBY COUNTY·NCES 010303002191
Helena High School
1310 Hillsboro Parkway, Helena, AL 35080 · (205) 682-3650 · Shelby County
GRADES 09–12HIGH41-RURALREGULAR SCHOOL1,383 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
17.6:1
79 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.8:1 · STATE 17.2:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
26%
365 students
DISTRICT 47% · STATE 58%
Community
6
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 9 | 345 | 25% |
| Grade 10 | 352 | 25% |
| Grade 11 | 350 | 25% |
| Grade 12 | 336 | 24% |
Student demographics
48%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 53% · 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
40.4%
AL avg 52.7%
Math
36.4%
AL avg 31.8%
What this means: On the ACAP, Alabama's statewide test, about 40 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 36 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
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of AL schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
40.8%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
64.8%
based on AL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-24.0pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 41% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 65% typical for Alabama schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
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 Helena High School
Helena High School's state test result (40.8% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Helena High School this school | 1,383 | 26.4% | 40.8% |
| Daphne High School Daphne | 1,639 | 27.6% | 51.0% |
| Homewood High School Homewood | 1,333 | 27.9% | 64.8% |
| Chelsea High School Chelsea | 1,235 | 23.5% | 49.2% |
| Fairhope High School Fairhope | 1,536 | 21.9% | 65.1% |
| Buckhorn High School New Market | 1,320 | 32.2% | 48.1% |
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 Helena High School ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Alabama | In Shelby County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 40.8% | #56 of 305 | #4 of 10 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 36.4% | #44 of 305 | #4 of 10 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 40.4% | #111 of 305 | #5 of 10 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 1,383 | #33 of 319 | #4 of 10 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 17.6:1 | #184 of 307 | #8 of 10 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 48.1% | #134 of 307 | #7 of 10 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 26.4% | #302 of 317 | #8 of 10 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +8.0% | #74 of 130 | #4 of 7 |
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
1,383
+10 (+1%) vs 2020
Student : Teacher
17.6:1
was 19.1:1
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 | 1,383 | 78.5 | 17.6:1 | 26% (365) |
| 2023-24 | 1,419 | 78 | 18.2:1 | 29% (406) |
| 2022-23 | 1,418 | 77 | 18.4:1 | 28% (395) |
| 2020-21 | 1,373 | 72 | 19.1:1 | 15% (205) |
| 2017-18 | 1,281 | 66.5 | 19.3:1 | 17% (222) |
| 2015-16 | 1,152 | 57 | 20.2:1 | 15% (170) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Helena High School.
Since 2017-18: students up 8% (1,281 to 1,383); teachers up 18% (66.5 to 78.5).
About Helena High School
Helena High School is one of the public schools in Helena, Alabama. It is a large high school. The school serves 1,383 students in grades 9 through 12 in 2024-25. The average among high schools in Alabama is roughly 682 students; this school is 103% larger than that.
The Shelby County system has 29 schools and 20,638 students.
White students make up a majority at Helena High School, at 69%. The remaining students are 16% Black, 9% Hispanic, and 3% multiracial. Pick two students at random and there is a 48% chance they belong to different racial or ethnic groups; that figure is the school's diversity index.
A ratio of 17.6:1 comes from the school's 78.5 full-time-equivalent teachers. That matches the 17.2:1 average for high schools in Alabama fairly closely. The lunch program counts 26% of students at Helena High School as eligible for free or reduced-price meals. It compares with 42% for public schools in Shelby County.
In Alabama, Helena High School is one of the bottom 10% of schools on BeatsExpectations, with an average proficiency rate on state tests of 40.8% compared with a predicted 64.8%.
Shelby County census figures show that the median household income is $97,961, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 47% of adults, and the poverty rate is about 5%. Shelby County is home to 48 public schools and about 35,120 public school students.
The closest public school, Helena Middle, is about 0.2 miles from Helena High School. Other public schools within five miles: at least 8. Ranked by average proficiency, Helena High School places 6th out of 8 schools in its immediate area.
Locale: Rural: Fringe. In NCES terms, the school is in rural territory close to an urban area.
Compared with 2020-21, when it had 1,373 students, enrollment in 2024-25 was about the same at 1,383. Staffing shifted too: the ratio moved from 19.1:1 to 17.6:1.
If you have questions about school safety, transportation, and start times at Helena High School, you can post them here. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
Shelby County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
230,211
Census ACS
Median income
$97,961
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
47%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
48
35,120 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Shelby County
- Oak Mountain High SchoolHigh · 1,648 students
- Chelsea High SchoolHigh · 1,235 students
- Oak Mountain Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,168 students
- Calera HighHigh · 1,018 students
- Helena MiddleMiddle · 957 students
- Helena Intermediate SchoolElementary · 955 students
Other schools in Helena
- Helena MiddleMiddle · 957 students
- Helena Intermediate SchoolElementary · 955 students
- Helena Elementary SchoolElementary · 778 students
Other Helena High schools
One other US public school is named Helena High. Helena High School is the largest of the 2.
- Helena High SchoolHelena, MT · 979 students
Nearby schools
- Helena Middle0.2 mi · 957
- Helena Intermediate School1.1 mi · 955
- Helena Elementary School1.7 mi · 778
- Creek View Elementary School3.5 mi · 958
- Pelham High School3.8 mi · 1,076
- Robert F Bumpus Middle School3.9 mi · 1,192
Frequently asked questions
About Helena High SchoolHow large is Helena High School?
Helena High School enrolls approximately 1,383 students in grades 09-12.
Is Helena High School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Helena High School is a high school covering grades 09-12.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Helena High School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Helena High School is approximately 17.6:1 (79 FTE teachers).
What is the student diversity at Helena High School?
Student demographics at Helena High School are roughly 69% White, 9% Hispanic, 16% Black, 2% Asian, 3% Two or more.
What district is Helena High School in?
Helena High School is part of Shelby County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.