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Teachers: what resource would make the biggest difference at Phillips Preparatory Middle School this year?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
453
Middle
DISTRICT 550 · STATE 508
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·MOBILE COUNTY·NCES 010237000947
Phillips Preparatory Middle School
3255 Old Shell Rd, Mobile, AL 36607 · (251) 221-2286 · Mobile County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE12-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL453 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
13.3:1
34 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 17.5:1 · STATE 17.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
43%
196 students
DISTRICT 70% · 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 | 164 | 36% |
| Grade 7 | 154 | 34% |
| Grade 8 | 135 | 30% |
Student demographics
64%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 62% · 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
91.7%
AL avg 52.7%
Math
51.5%
AL avg 31.8%
What this means: On the ACAP, Alabama's statewide test, about 92 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 52 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
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of AL schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
74.4%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
52.5%
based on AL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+21.9pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 74% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 53% typical for Alabama schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations ranks schools against others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school can post high scores and still fall short of its prediction, or post lower scores and still beat it. This school clears its prediction by about 22 points, placing it in Alabama's top 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 Phillips Preparatory Middle School
Phillips Preparatory Middle School's state test result (74.4% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phillips Preparatory Middle School this school | 453 | 43.3% | 74.4% |
| Denton Magnet School of Technology Mobile | 334 | 51.2% | 72.8% |
| ClarkShaw Magnet School Mobile | 582 | 48.1% | 68.4% |
| Floyd Middle School Montgomery | 525 | 48.4% | 57.0% |
| Northridge Middle School Tuscaloosa | 775 | 39.1% | 50.8% |
| Prattville Junior High School Prattville | 928 | 39.7% | 45.3% |
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 Phillips Preparatory Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Alabama | In Mobile County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 74.4% | #9 of 260 | #2 of 20 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 51.5% | #30 of 260 | #4 of 20 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 91.7% | #3 of 260 | #2 of 20 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 453 | #129 of 265 | #9 of 20 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 13.3:1 | #6 of 244 | #1 of 17 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 64.5% | #28 of 246 | #2 of 18 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 43.3% | #212 of 264 | #19 of 20 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -42.1% | #10 of 151 | #3 of 14 |
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
453
-176 (-28%) vs 2020
-40% since 1990-91, when it was 758
Student : Teacher
13.3:1
was 16.6:1
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 | 453 | 34 | 13.3:1 | 43% (196) |
| 2023-24 | 438 | 35 | 12.5:1 | 48% (209) |
| 2022-23 | 499 | 35 | 14.3:1 | 48% (239) |
| 2020-21 | 629 | 38 | 16.6:1 | 48% (301) |
| 2017-18 | 783 | 40 | 19.6:1 | 48% (375) |
| 2015-16 | 822 | 40 | 20.6:1 | 27% (219) |
| 2010-11 | 836 | 52 | 16.1:1 | 42% (348) |
| 2000-01 | 736 | 33 | 22.3:1 | 34% (252) |
| 1990-91 | 758 | 32 | 23.7:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Phillips Preparatory Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students down 42% (783 to 453); teachers down 15% (40 to 34).
About Phillips Preparatory Middle School
Phillips Preparatory Middle School is a medium-sized middle school that serves part of Mobile, Alabama. The latest federal count shows 453 students in grades 6 through 8.
Phillips Preparatory Middle School falls under Mobile County, which has 85 schools enrolling 49,946 students.
Phillips Preparatory Middle School has no majority group; Black students are the largest, at 47%. Smaller groups are 34% White, 8% Asian, 5% Hispanic, and 5% multiracial. County-wide, 36% of Mobile County residents are Black. The school's diversity index is 64%, meaning two students picked at random have a 64% chance of belonging to different racial or ethnic groups.
Phillips Preparatory Middle School operates with 34 full-time-equivalent teachers, a ratio of about 13.3:1. That is lower than the 17.9:1 average for middle schools in Alabama. About 43% of students at the school meet free or reduced-price lunch income limits. Among public schools in Mobile County, the average eligibility rate is 67%.
Phillips Preparatory Middle School is a top-10% school in Alabama on BeatsExpectations, beating its predicted average proficiency rate on state tests of 52.5% with an actual 74.4%.
Recent Census Bureau figures for Mobile County show that the median household income is $58,880, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 26%, and roughly 12% of residents are in poverty. Besides Phillips Preparatory Middle School, Mobile County has 106 other public schools.
The shortest distance from Phillips Preparatory Middle School to another public school is about 0.2 miles, to Old Shell Road Magnet School. Other public schools within five miles: at least 8. The school's 74.4% average proficiency ranks 2nd among 9 nearby schools.
The federal government classifies Phillips Preparatory Middle School's location as City: Mid-size.
Federal data show a 28% enrollment decrease, from 629 in 2020-21 to 453 in 2024-25. The student-to-teacher ratio fell from 16.6:1 in 2020-21 to 13.3:1 in 2024-25.
Discussions about Phillips Preparatory Middle School may include school events, clubs, and volunteer needs. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.
Mobile County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
412,590
Census ACS
Median income
$58,880
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
26%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
12%
Below federal line
Schools in county
107
59,070 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Mobile County
- Baker High SchoolHigh · 2,271 students
- Mary G Montgomery High SchoolHigh · 1,888 students
- Alma Bryant High SchoolHigh · 1,624 students
- WP Davidson High SchoolHigh · 1,470 students
- Bernice J Causey Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,339 students
- Theodore High SchoolHigh · 1,218 students
Other schools in Mobile
- Baker High SchoolHigh · 2,271 students
- WP Davidson High SchoolHigh · 1,470 students
- Bernice J Causey Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,339 students
- Murphy High SchoolHigh · 1,212 students
- ER Dickson Elementary SchoolElementary · 967 students
- Lillie B Williamson High SchoolHigh · 889 students
Nearby schools
- Old Shell Road Magnet School0.2 mi · 369
- Mary B Austin Elementary School0.9 mi · 506
- SpencerWestlawn Elementary School1.2 mi · 428
- Holloway Elementary1.6 mi · 483
- Acceleration Day and Evening Academy2.0 mi · 513
- Acceleration Preparatory Academy2.0 mi · 322
Frequently asked questions
About Phillips Preparatory Middle SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Phillips Preparatory Middle School?
Phillips Preparatory Middle School enrolls approximately 453 students in grades 06-08.
What age range does Phillips Preparatory Middle School serve?
Phillips Preparatory Middle School serves students from grade 06 through grade 08.
How many students per teacher at Phillips Preparatory Middle School?
Approximately 13.3:1 students per teacher at Phillips Preparatory Middle School.
How diverse is Phillips Preparatory Middle School?
Phillips Preparatory Middle School reports a student body of 34% White, 5% Hispanic, 47% Black, 8% Asian, 5% Two or more.
Who oversees Phillips Preparatory Middle School?
Phillips Preparatory Middle School is overseen by Mobile County in Mobile County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.