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If you had an hour of school board time for Sweet Water High School, what would you bring up?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
600
Combined
DISTRICT 322 · STATE 673
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·MARENGO COUNTY·NCES 010225000857
Sweet Water High School
440 Main Street, Sweet Water, AL 36782 · (334) 994-4263 · Marengo County
GRADES PK–12COMBINED43-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL600 STUDENTS
A-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 81% of Alabama public K-12 schools
- B+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- A-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 K-12 schools
Student : Teacher
15.8:1
38 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 13.0:1 · STATE 17.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
58%
350 students
DISTRICT 76% · STATE 58%
Community
6
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other combined schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-K | 33 | 6% |
| Kindergarten | 59 | 10% |
| Grade 1 | 47 | 8% |
| Grade 2 | 48 | 8% |
| Grade 3 | 38 | 6% |
| Grade 4 | 50 | 8% |
| Grade 5 | 40 | 7% |
| Grade 6 | 38 | 6% |
| Grade 7 | 40 | 7% |
| Grade 8 | 37 | 6% |
| Grade 9 | 35 | 6% |
| Grade 10 | 42 | 7% |
| Grade 11 | 54 | 9% |
| Grade 12 | 39 | 7% |
This year's kindergarten class (59) is 59% larger than its 8th grade class (37).
Student demographics
51%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 50% · 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
57.2%
AL avg 52.7%
Math
39.0%
AL avg 31.8%
What this means: On the ACAP, Alabama's statewide test, about 57 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 39 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
46.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
41.6%
based on AL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+4.5pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 46% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 42% 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 Sweet Water High School
Sweet Water High School's state test result (46.1% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sweet Water High School this school | 600 | 58.3% | 46.1% |
| Billingsley High School Billingsley | 586 | 57.7% | 33.4% |
| Lamar County HighIntermediate Vernon | 544 | 57.7% | 51.5% |
| Section High School Section | 503 | 58.4% | 43.0% |
| Excel High School Excel | 1,010 | 59.6% | 43.2% |
| Sulligent School Sulligent | 684 | 54.1% | 48.0% |
Matched among Alabama K-12 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 Sweet Water High School ranks
Among K-12 schools| Measure | This school | In Alabama |
|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 46.1% | #17 of 62 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 39.0% | #13 of 62 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 57.2% | #26 of 62 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 600 | #22 of 69 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 15.8:1 | #19 of 61 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 51.0% | #9 of 61 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 58.3% | #31 of 65 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -0.2% | #36 of 37 |
Ranked against other public K-12 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
600
+23 (+4%) vs 2020
-12% since 1990-91, when it was 683
Student : Teacher
15.8:1
was 15.2:1
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 | 600 | 38 | 15.8:1 | 58% (350) |
| 2023-24 | 568 | 39 | 14.6:1 | 59% (333) |
| 2022-23 | 561 | 38 | 14.8:1 | 57% (322) |
| 2020-21 | 577 | 38 | 15.2:1 | 58% (336) |
| 2017-18 | 601 | 37 | 16.2:1 | 65% (393) |
| 2015-16 | 658 | 38 | 17.3:1 | 62% (411) |
| 2010-11 | 705 | 61 | 11.6:1 | 63% (446) |
| 2000-01 | 603 | 38 | 15.9:1 | 62% (376) |
| 1990-91 | 683 | 42 | 16.3:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Sweet Water High School.
Since 2017-18: students unchanged (601 to 600); teachers up 3% (37 to 38).
About Sweet Water High School
In Sweet Water, Alabama, part of Marengo County, Sweet Water High School is a combined-grade school. Grades offered run from pre-K through 12, with 600 students enrolled.
Marengo County counts 965 students in its 3 schools, and Sweet Water High School is one of them.
By race and ethnicity, Sweet Water High School is 60% White. Other reported shares: 35% Black and 2% multiracial. That compares with about 45% White among all Marengo County residents. By the diversity index, Sweet Water High School comes in at 51%.
Teachers at Sweet Water High School total 38 full-time equivalents, and the ratio is 15.8:1. For comparison, combined schools in Alabama average 17.9:1. Federal records put free or reduced-price lunch eligibility at 58%.
The allk12 Grade for Sweet Water High School is A-. Compared with Alabama public K-12 schools, the school scored higher than 81% on a mix of test scores, poverty-adjusted results, and recent trend.
The school's average proficiency rate on state tests is 46.1%. For its free or reduced-price lunch share, the predicted value is 41.6%.
Across Marengo County, median household income is about $43,825, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 20% of adults, and the poverty rate is about 14%. The public schools of Marengo County number 10 and enroll about 3,270.
The closest public school to Sweet Water High School is Marengo High School, about 4.9 miles away. The nearest schools with test data average 31.3%, lower than Sweet Water High School's 46.1%.
Under the NCES locale system, Sweet Water High School is Rural: Remote.
Sweet Water High School had 577 students in 2020-21 and 600 in 2024-25, a 4% gain.
If you have questions about science fairs, picture day, and bus routes at Sweet Water High School, you can post them here. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
Marengo County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
18,851
Census ACS
Median income
$43,825
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
20%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
14%
Below federal line
Schools in county
10
3,270 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Marengo County
- Marengo High SchoolCombined · 223 students
- Amelia L Johnson High SchoolCombined · 142 students
Nearby schools
- Marengo High School4.9 mi · 223
- George P Austin Junior High School14.8 mi · 77
- Linden Elementary School14.9 mi · 184
- Linden High School15.2 mi · 126
- Thomasville Elementary School16.2 mi · 427
- Thomasville Middle School16.4 mi · 281
Frequently asked questions
About Sweet Water High SchoolWhat is the total enrollment at Sweet Water High School?
Sweet Water High School enrolls approximately 600 students in grades PK-12.
What age range does Sweet Water High School serve?
Sweet Water High School serves students from grade PK through grade 12.
How many students per teacher at Sweet Water High School?
Approximately 15.8:1 students per teacher at Sweet Water High School.
How diverse is Sweet Water High School?
Sweet Water High School reports a student body of 60% White, 2% Hispanic, 35% Black, 0% Asian, 2% Two or more.
Who oversees Sweet Water High School?
Sweet Water High School is overseen by Marengo County in Marengo County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.