Sanford Middle School

Sanford Middle School is a moderately sized 6-8 campus in Opelika, Alabama, part of Lee County. The school instructs 533 students in grades 5 through 8.

Within Lee County, which oversees 13 schools and 9,026 students, Sanford Middle School is one campus in the system.

On demographics, Sanford Middle School lists that 59% of the student body identifies as White. Beyond that, the school logs 20% Black, 11% Hispanic, 10% multiracial.

On the resource side, Staff filings list 34 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 15.5:1 students per teacher. The state averages around 17.9:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. Around 60% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. That share is above Lee County's rate of about 48%.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Sanford Middle School sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 40.1%; this one delivers 38.0%.

In the area at large, the surrounding county (Lee County) records that median household earnings sit near $65,824, roughly 42% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 10% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Lee County runs 41 public schools (combined enrollment of about 24,812 students), of which Sanford Middle School is one.

The closest other public school is Beauregard Elementary School, roughly 3.9 miles away. 2 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Among the 7 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Sanford Middle School ranks 1st on composite proficiency, ahead of the local average of 33.2%.

Geographically, the school is in a rural area.

Trend over the last 7 years. Over the past 7-year window, the student count edged down 6%: 568 students in 2018 compared to 533 in 2025. White enrollment moved from 71% to 59% across the same window. Class-load math has pulled in: from 17.2:1 in 2018 to 15.5:1 in 2025.

On this page, posts here usually surface around fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.