1
What's the vibe like in the hallways at Southside High School right now?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
825
High
DISTRICT 465 · STATE 682
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·ETOWAH COUNTY·NCES 010138000506
Southside High School
2361 School Drive, Southside, AL 35907 · (256) 442-2172 · Etowah County
GRADES 09–12HIGH23-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL825 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
19.1:1
43 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 18.0:1 · STATE 17.2:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
34%
278 students
DISTRICT 51% · 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 | 207 | 25% |
| Grade 10 | 209 | 25% |
| Grade 11 | 199 | 24% |
| Grade 12 | 210 | 25% |
Student demographics
29%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 30% · 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
32.6%
AL avg 52.7%
Math
19.4%
AL avg 31.8%
What this means: On the ACAP, Alabama's statewide test, about 33 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 19 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
28.7%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
59.5%
based on AL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-30.8pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 29% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 59% 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 Southside High School
Southside High School's state test result (28.7% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Southside High School this school | 825 | 33.7% | 28.7% |
| Brooks High School Killen | 729 | 34.0% | 50.2% |
| Mortimer Jordan High School Kimberly | 886 | 34.9% | 29.9% |
| Gulf Shores High School Gulf Shores | 927 | 28.3% | 49.1% |
| Arab High School Arab | 735 | 39.7% | 41.3% |
| Moody High School Moody | 708 | 36.3% | 35.5% |
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 Southside High School ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Alabama | In Etowah County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 28.7% | #141 of 305 | #3 of 8 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 19.4% | #150 of 305 | #3 of 8 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 32.6% | #139 of 305 | #3 of 8 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 825 | #88 of 319 | #2 of 8 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 19.1:1 | #253 of 307 | #8 of 8 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 29.4% | #218 of 307 | #5 of 8 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 33.7% | #283 of 317 | #8 of 8 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +0.6% | #127 of 130 | N/A |
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
825
+25 (+3%) vs 2020
+2% since 1990-91, when it was 807
Student : Teacher
19.1:1
was 17.8:1
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 | 825 | 43.3 | 19.1:1 | 34% (278) |
| 2023-24 | 818 | 43.2 | 18.9:1 | 42% (340) |
| 2022-23 | 770 | 42.3 | 18.2:1 | 42% (321) |
| 2020-21 | 800 | 45 | 17.8:1 | 29% (229) |
| 2017-18 | 820 | 45.4 | 18.1:1 | 29% (234) |
| 2015-16 | 864 | 42 | 20.6:1 | 29% (253) |
| 2010-11 | 818 | 48 | 17.0:1 | 28% (233) |
| 2000-01 | 720 | 41 | 17.6:1 | 7% (48) |
| 1990-91 | 807 | 40 | 20.2:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Southside High School.
Since 2017-18: students up 1% (820 to 825); teachers down 5% (45.4 to 43.3).
About Southside High School
Southside High School is a public high school in Southside, Alabama. Students in grades 9 through 12 attend, and enrollment is 825 students. The school's enrollment is 21% above the 682 average for high schools in Alabama.
Southside High School is a school in Etowah County. The district has 22 schools and 8,739 students.
Most students at Southside High School are White: 84% of enrollment. Smaller groups are 6% Black, 5% Hispanic, 3% multiracial, and 3% Asian. The chance that two students picked at random at Southside High School belong to different racial or ethnic groups, known as the diversity index, is 29%.
The ratio of students to teachers is 19.1:1, with 43.3 full-time-equivalent teachers on staff. For comparison, high schools in Alabama average 17.2:1. The percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch is 34%. It compares with 58% for public schools in Etowah County.
The school's average proficiency rate on state tests, 28.7%, is 30.8 points below the 59.5% the model predicts from its free or reduced-price lunch share. That result is in the bottom 10% of Alabama schools.
Across Etowah County, median household income is about $54,563, roughly 18% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 12%. The public schools of Etowah County number 42 and enroll about 15,139.
Nearby, Southside Elementary School is about 0.8 miles away. Other public schools within five miles number 4. Ranked by average proficiency, Southside High School places 8th out of 9 schools in its immediate area.
Locale data from NCES put Southside High School in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population under 100,000 (Suburb: Small).
Southside High School had 800 students in 2020-21 and 825 in 2024-25, a 3% increase. The student-to-teacher ratio went up from 17.8:1 to 19.1:1.
Posts about school safety, transportation, and start times are welcome on this page. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.
Etowah County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
103,105
Census ACS
Median income
$54,563
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
18%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
12%
Below federal line
Schools in county
42
15,139 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Etowah County
- John S Jones Elementary SchoolElementary · 745 students
- Rainbow Middle SchoolMiddle · 634 students
- Hokes Bluff Elementary SchoolElementary · 610 students
- Southside Elementary SchoolElementary · 585 students
- Sardis High SchoolHigh · 546 students
- Whitesboro Elementary SchoolElementary · 423 students
Other Southside High schools
6 other US public schools in 6 states are named Southside High. Southside High School is the 5th largest of the 7.
- Southside High SchoolSelma, AL · 285 students
- SOUTHSIDE HIGH SCHOOLFORT SMITH, AR · 2,053 students
- Southside High SchoolYoungsville, LA · 1,833 students
- Southside High SchoolSAN ANTONIO, TX · 1,772 students
- Southside HighGreenville, SC · 1,075 students
Nearby schools
- Southside Elementary School0.8 mi · 585
- John S Jones Elementary School2.2 mi · 745
- Rainbow Middle School2.5 mi · 634
- Eura Brown Elementary School3.8 mi · 340
- Gadsden City High School5.2 mi · 1,361
- Gadsden Middle School6.1 mi · 438
Frequently asked questions
About Southside High SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Southside High School?
Southside High School enrolls approximately 825 students in grades 09-12.
Is Southside High School an elementary, middle, or high school?
Southside High School is a high school covering grades 09-12.
How many teachers does Southside High School have?
Southside High School employs 43 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 19.1:1.
How diverse is Southside High School?
Southside High School reports a student body of 84% White, 5% Hispanic, 6% Black, 3% Asian, 3% Two or more.
Who oversees Southside High School?
Southside High School is overseen by Etowah County in Etowah County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.