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How has Sipsey Valley High School changed in the last five years, for better or worse?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
524
High
DISTRICT 939 · STATE 682
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·TUSCALOOSA COUNTY·NCES 010339002153
Sipsey Valley High School
15815 Romulus Rd, Buhl, AL 35446 · (205) 342-2850 · Tuscaloosa County
GRADES 09–12HIGH42-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL524 STUDENTS
D
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 9% of Alabama public high schools
- CTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- FBeats 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
17.5:1
30 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 17.7:1 · STATE 17.2:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
42%
218 students
DISTRICT 53% · 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 | 149 | 28% |
| Grade 10 | 134 | 26% |
| Grade 11 | 137 | 26% |
| Grade 12 | 104 | 20% |
Student demographics
48%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
14.6%
AL avg 52.7%
Math
12.3%
AL avg 31.8%
What this means: On the ACAP, Alabama's statewide test, about 15 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 12 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
18.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
53.7%
based on AL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-35.3pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 18% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 54% 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 Sipsey Valley High School
Sipsey Valley High School's state test result (18.5% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sipsey Valley High School this school | 524 | 41.6% | 18.5% |
| Headland High School Headland | 442 | 40.7% | 27.1% |
| West Point High School Cullman | 591 | 41.5% | 26.9% |
| White Plains High School Anniston | 396 | 40.4% | 36.9% |
| West Blocton High School West Blocton | 368 | 43.8% | 20.2% |
| Good Hope High School Cullman | 485 | 39.2% | 23.3% |
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 Sipsey Valley High School ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Alabama | In Tuscaloosa County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 18.5% | #217 of 305 | #5 of 9 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 12.3% | #208 of 305 | #6 of 9 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 14.6% | #252 of 305 | #6 of 9 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 524 | #165 of 319 | #8 of 9 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 17.5:1 | #174 of 307 | #2 of 9 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 47.6% | #135 of 307 | #5 of 9 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 41.6% | #247 of 317 | #7 of 9 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +4.2% | #100 of 130 | #8 of 8 |
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
524
+28 (+6%) vs 2020
+42% since 2010-11, when it was 368
Student : Teacher
17.5:1
was 17.7:1
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 | 524 | 30 | 17.5:1 | 42% (218) |
| 2023-24 | 510 | 28.1 | 18.1:1 | 58% (294) |
| 2022-23 | 511 | 25.7 | 19.9:1 | 58% (296) |
| 2020-21 | 496 | 28 | 17.7:1 | 53% (265) |
| 2017-18 | 503 | 28.1 | 17.9:1 | 41% (208) |
| 2015-16 | 521 | 27 | 19.3:1 | 46% (239) |
| 2010-11 | 368 | 21 | 17.5:1 | 53% (194) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Sipsey Valley High School.
Since 2017-18: students up 4% (503 to 524); teachers up 7% (28.1 to 30).
About Sipsey Valley High School
Sipsey Valley High School is a public low-enrollment high school in Buhl, Alabama. The school counted 524 students in 2024-25, covering grades 9 through 12. That puts enrollment 23% below the 682-student average for high schools in Alabama.
Sipsey Valley High School reports to Tuscaloosa County, which has 35 schools and 19,278 students.
More than half of enrollment at Sipsey Valley High School is White: 69%. Next come 18% Black and 12% Hispanic. The county population is about 60% White. The diversity index for Sipsey Valley High School is 48%. For US public schools as a whole it is 70%.
For every teacher at Sipsey Valley High School, there are about 17.5 students; the school has 30 full-time-equivalent teachers. The 17.2:1 average for high schools in Alabama is close to this figure. The eligibility rate for free or reduced-price meals is 42%. It compares with 54% for public schools in Tuscaloosa County.
Among Alabama public high schools, Sipsey Valley High School outscored 9%, which works out to a D on the allk12 Grade.
A school in Alabama with Sipsey Valley High School's free or reduced-price lunch share would be expected to score about 53.7%. Sipsey Valley High School scores 18.5%.
The county, Tuscaloosa County, is where the school is located. Median household income comes to about $66,231, about 32% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and roughly 11% of residents are in poverty. The county has 58 public schools and about 30,508 students.
Sipsey Valley High School is about 0.2 miles from Sipsey Valley Middle School, its nearest public school. Sipsey Valley High School has 3 other public schools within five miles. Sipsey Valley High School's average proficiency of 18.5% compares with 44.1% for its nearest scored neighbors.
Federal data place Sipsey Valley High School in the Rural: Distant locale, which means it is in rural territory some distance from an urban area.
Federal enrollment counts increased from 496 (2020-21) to 524 (2024-25).
People who know Sipsey Valley High School can post here about special education services, counseling, and support programs. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to post.
Tuscaloosa County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
237,552
Census ACS
Median income
$66,231
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
32%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
11%
Below federal line
Schools in county
58
30,508 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Tuscaloosa County
- Tuscaloosa County High SchoolHigh · 1,607 students
- Hillcrest High SchoolHigh · 1,434 students
- Brookwood High SchoolHigh · 1,076 students
- Lake View Elementary SchoolElementary · 744 students
- Walker Elementary SchoolElementary · 743 students
- Brookwood Middle SchoolMiddle · 738 students
Other schools in Buhl
- Sipsey Valley Middle SchoolMiddle · 575 students
- Buhl Elementary SchoolElementary · 206 students
Nearby schools
- Sipsey Valley Middle School0.2 mi · 575
- Buhl Elementary School4.5 mi · 206
- Westwood Elementary School4.7 mi · 299
- Myrtlewood Elementary School7.3 mi · 280
- Flatwoods Elementary School7.4 mi · 459
- Oakdale Elementary School7.7 mi · 292
Frequently asked questions
About Sipsey Valley High SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Sipsey Valley High School?
Sipsey Valley High School enrolls approximately 524 students in grades 09-12.
What grades does Sipsey Valley High School serve?
Sipsey Valley High School serves grades 09-12.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Sipsey Valley High School?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Sipsey Valley High School is approximately 17.5:1 (30 FTE teachers).
What is the student diversity at Sipsey Valley High School?
Student demographics at Sipsey Valley High School are roughly 69% White, 12% Hispanic, 18% Black, 1% Two or more.
What district is Sipsey Valley High School in?
Sipsey Valley High School is part of Tuscaloosa County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.