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Which teacher or staff member at Sanford Middle School deserves more recognition?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
533
Middle
DISTRICT 722 · STATE 508
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·LEE COUNTY·NCES 010207000793
Sanford Middle School
1500 Lee Road 11, Opelika, AL 36804 · (334) 705-6040 · Lee County
GRADES 05–08MIDDLE41-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL533 STUDENTS
C+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 43% of Alabama public middle schools
- C+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- C+Beats 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 middle schools
Student : Teacher
15.5:1
34 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 16.2:1 · STATE 17.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
60%
322 students
DISTRICT 54% · 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 5 | 121 | 23% |
| Grade 6 | 131 | 25% |
| Grade 7 | 135 | 25% |
| Grade 8 | 146 | 27% |
Student demographics
58%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 56% · 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
School pathway
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within Lee County. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
ACAP 2024-25 . % ProficientEnglish Language Arts
51.5%
AL avg 52.7%
Math
25.7%
AL avg 31.8%
What this means: On the ACAP, Alabama's statewide test, about 52 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 26 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
38.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
40.1%
based on AL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-2.0pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 38% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 40% 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 Sanford Middle School
Sanford Middle School's state test result (38.0% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sanford Middle School this school | 533 | 60.4% | 38.0% |
| Centreville Middle School Centreville | 440 | 60.9% | 28.1% |
| Southside Middle School Tallassee | 424 | 58.0% | 42.1% |
| Charles R Drew Middle School Lincoln | 448 | 58.3% | 52.9% |
| Odenville Middle School Odenville | 534 | 53.7% | 29.1% |
| Bay Minette Middle School Bay Minette | 432 | 61.8% | 34.2% |
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 Sanford Middle School ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Alabama | In Lee County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 38.0% | #149 of 260 | #5 of 6 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 25.7% | #125 of 260 | #4 of 6 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 51.5% | #155 of 260 | #5 of 6 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 533 | #102 of 265 | #5 of 6 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 15.5:1 | #39 of 244 | #1 of 6 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 58.4% | #71 of 246 | #5 of 6 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 60.4% | #118 of 264 | #3 of 6 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -6.2% | #102 of 151 | N/A |
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
533
-12 (-2%) vs 2020
+2% since 1990-91, when it was 525
Student : Teacher
15.5:1
was 15.6:1
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 | 533 | 34.4 | 15.5:1 | 60% (322) |
| 2023-24 | 545 | 33.5 | 16.3:1 | 74% (402) |
| 2022-23 | 545 | 32.7 | 16.7:1 | 74% (402) |
| 2020-21 | 545 | 35 | 15.6:1 | 52% (286) |
| 2017-18 | 568 | 33 | 17.2:1 | 69% (393) |
| 2015-16 | 622 | 37 | 16.8:1 | 67% (414) |
| 2010-11 | 725 | 50 | 14.5:1 | 64% (462) |
| 2000-01 | 634 | 34 | 18.6:1 | 43% (273) |
| 1990-91 | 525 | 24 | 21.9:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Sanford Middle School.
Since 2017-18: students down 6% (568 to 533); teachers up 4% (33 to 34.4).
About Sanford Middle School
Sanford Middle School runs as a medium-sized middle-grades school in Opelika, Alabama. A total of 533 students attend the school, which covers grades 5 through 8.
The district, Lee County, has 9,026 students enrolled across 13 schools.
At Sanford Middle School, White students make up 59% of the student body. It is also 20% Black, 11% Hispanic, and 10% multiracial. Pick two students at random and there is a 58% chance they belong to different racial or ethnic groups; that figure is the school's diversity index.
The school's student-to-teacher ratio is about 15.5:1, with 34.4 full-time-equivalent teachers. That is 2.4 students per teacher below the 17.9:1 average for middle schools in Alabama. Students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch make up 60% of enrollment. For comparison, public schools in Lee County average 48%.
Sanford Middle School is graded C+ by allk12, scoring above 43% of Alabama public middle schools once test results, poverty-adjusted performance, and the recent trend are combined.
After adjusting for student poverty, Sanford Middle School lands between the top and bottom 10% of Alabama schools. Its average proficiency rate on state tests is 38.0%; the prediction is 40.1%.
County data help place the school in context: in Lee County, the median household income is $65,824, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 42%, and about 10% of people live in poverty. In all, Lee County has 41 public schools and roughly 24,812 students.
Beauregard Elementary School is the closest public school, about 3.9 miles away in a straight line. In all, 2 other public schools sit within five miles of Sanford Middle School. On state test proficiency, Sanford Middle School ranks 6th in a group of 7 nearby schools.
The school's locale code, Rural: Fringe, means it is in rural territory close to an urban area.
Between 2020-21 and 2024-25, enrollment moved from 545 to 533, a small change.
To ask about science fairs, picture day, and bus routes, start a discussion on this page. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
Lee County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
181,134
Census ACS
Median income
$65,824
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
42%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
10%
Below federal line
Schools in county
41
24,812 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Lee County
- Smiths Station High SchoolHigh · 1,588 students
- Smiths Station Junior High SchoolMiddle · 910 students
- West Smiths Station Elementary SchoolElementary · 811 students
- East Smiths Station Elementary SchoolElementary · 785 students
- Beauregard Elementary SchoolElementary · 783 students
- Beulah Elementary SchoolElementary · 696 students
Other schools in Opelika
- Opelika High SchoolHigh · 1,590 students
- Opelika Middle SchoolMiddle · 812 students
- Beauregard Elementary SchoolElementary · 783 students
- Beauregard High SchoolHigh · 533 students
- Southview Primary SchoolElementary · 480 students
- Northside SchoolElementary · 464 students
Other Sanford Middle schools
3 other US public schools in 4 states are named Sanford Middle. Sanford Middle School is the 4th largest of the 4.
- SANFORD MIDDLE SCHOOLSANFORD, FL · 1,385 students
- Sanford Middle SchoolSanford, ME · 920 students
- Sanford MiddleMINNEAPOLIS, MN · 728 students
Nearby schools
- Beauregard Elementary School3.9 mi · 783
- Beauregard High School3.9 mi · 533
- Ogletree Elementary School5.8 mi · 523
- Auburn Early Education Center7.4 mi · 492
- Wrights Mill Road Elementary School7.8 mi · 388
- Auburn High School7.9 mi · 2,227
Frequently asked questions
About Sanford Middle SchoolHow many students attend Sanford Middle School?
Sanford Middle School enrolls approximately 533 students in grades 05-08.
Is Sanford Middle School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Sanford Middle School is a middle school covering grades 05-08.
How many teachers does Sanford Middle School have?
Sanford Middle School employs 34 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 15.5:1.
What is the student diversity at Sanford Middle School?
Student demographics at Sanford Middle School are roughly 59% White, 11% Hispanic, 20% Black, 10% Two or more.
What district is Sanford Middle School in?
Sanford Middle School is part of Lee County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.