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What do students at Virgil Grissom High School actually talk about outside of class?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
1,847
High
DISTRICT 1,112 · STATE 682
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·HUNTSVILLE CITY·NCES 010180000629
Virgil Grissom High School
1001 Haysland Road, Huntsville, AL 35802 · (256) 428-8000 · Madison County
GRADES 09–12HIGH12-CITYREGULAR SCHOOL1,847 STUDENTS
C+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 44% of Alabama public high schools
- B+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 high schools
Student : Teacher
18.6:1
100 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 17.4:1 · STATE 17.2:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
35%
646 students
DISTRICT 50% · 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 | 482 | 26% |
| Grade 10 | 458 | 25% |
| Grade 11 | 472 | 26% |
| Grade 12 | 435 | 24% |
Student demographics
65%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 69% · 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
37.3%
AL avg 52.7%
Math
28.5%
AL avg 31.8%
What this means: On the ACAP, Alabama's statewide test, about 37 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 29 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
34.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
58.5%
based on AL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-24.0pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 35% 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 Virgil Grissom High School
Virgil Grissom High School's state test result (34.6% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virgil Grissom High School this school | 1,847 | 35.0% | 34.6% |
| Enterprise High School Enterprise | 2,177 | 43.1% | 40.0% |
| Sparkman High School Harvest | 1,770 | 36.6% | 43.9% |
| Homewood High School Homewood | 1,333 | 27.9% | 64.8% |
| Huntsville High School Huntsville | 1,807 | 32.8% | 45.0% |
| Prattville High School Prattville | 1,844 | 37.6% | 29.9% |
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 Virgil Grissom High School ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Alabama | In Madison County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 34.6% | #96 of 305 | #9 of 12 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 28.5% | #81 of 305 | #8 of 12 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 37.3% | #124 of 305 | #9 of 12 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 1,847 | #9 of 319 | #2 of 13 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 18.6:1 | #235 of 307 | #9 of 13 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 65.4% | #21 of 307 | #4 of 13 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 35.0% | #276 of 317 | #9 of 13 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +2.0% | #117 of 130 | #7 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
1,847
-55 (-3%) vs 2020
-8% since 1990-91, when it was 2,003
Student : Teacher
18.6:1
was 19.2:1
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 | 1,847 | 99.5 | 18.6:1 | 35% (646) |
| 2023-24 | 1,885 | 101.1 | 18.6:1 | 43% (809) |
| 2022-23 | 1,974 | 94 | 21.0:1 | 43% (848) |
| 2020-21 | 1,902 | 99 | 19.2:1 | 30% (577) |
| 2017-18 | 1,810 | 98 | 18.5:1 | 32% (581) |
| 2015-16 | 1,825 | 96 | 19.0:1 | 32% (582) |
| 2010-11 | 1,986 | 104 | 19.1:1 | 13% (268) |
| 2000-01 | 1,931 | 113 | 17.1:1 | 2% (40) |
| 1990-91 | 2,003 | 105 | 19.1:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Virgil Grissom High School.
Since 2017-18: students up 2% (1,810 to 1,847); teachers up 2% (98 to 99.5).
About Virgil Grissom High School
Virgil Grissom High School is a large high school based in Huntsville, Alabama. It serves 1,847 students in grades 9 through 12. The average among high schools in Alabama is roughly 682 students; this school is 171% above that.
In Huntsville City, 44 schools enroll a combined 24,222 students.
By race and ethnicity, Virgil Grissom High School is 52% White. Beyond that, enrollment is 21% Hispanic, 17% Black, 7% multiracial, and 3% Asian. In Madison County overall, about 63% of residents are White. By the diversity index, Virgil Grissom High School comes in at 65%.
Its 99.5 full-time-equivalent teachers give the school a ratio of 18.6:1. The average ratio among high schools in Alabama is 17.2:1, lower than at this school. The school's lunch program data list 35% of students as eligible for free or reduced-price meals.
Measured against Alabama public high schools, Virgil Grissom High School receives a C+. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
Virgil Grissom High School ranks in the bottom 10% of Alabama schools after adjusting test results for student poverty. Actual: 34.6%. Predicted: 58.5%. Difference: 24.0 points.
Among Madison County residents, median household income is about $86,499, about 46% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and roughly 7% of residents are in poverty. Virgil Grissom High School is one of 89 public schools in Madison County, which together enroll about 55,800 students.
The school nearest to Virgil Grissom High School is Roger B Chaffee Elementary School, at a distance of about 0.9 miles. Counting only straight-line distance, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. Of the 9 nearby schools with scores, including this one, Virgil Grissom High School is 8th on average proficiency.
NCES lists the school's locale as City: Mid-size. That means it sits inside a principal city with a population between 100,000 and 250,000.
Between 2020-21 and 2024-25, the student count declined from 1,902 to 1,847.
Posts about sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater are welcome on this page. Reviews and ratings from people who know the school are welcome.
Madison County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
405,718
Census ACS
Median income
$86,499
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
46%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
89
55,800 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Huntsville City
- Huntsville High SchoolHigh · 1,807 students
- Providence ElementaryElementary · 1,152 students
- GoldsmithSchiffman ElementaryElementary · 935 students
- Columbia High SchoolHigh · 916 students
- Lee High SchoolHigh · 877 students
- Jemison High SchoolHigh · 858 students
Other schools in Huntsville
- Huntsville High SchoolHigh · 1,807 students
- Providence ElementaryElementary · 1,152 students
- Monrovia Middle SchoolMiddle · 988 students
- Columbia High SchoolHigh · 916 students
- Lee High SchoolHigh · 877 students
- Riverton Intermediate SchoolMiddle · 872 students
Nearby schools
- Roger B Chaffee Elementary School0.9 mi · 396
- Weatherly Heights Elementary School1.6 mi · 472
- Mountain Gap Middle School2.0 mi · 366
- Mountain Gap Elementary School2.0 mi · 341
- Whitesburg Elementary School2.2 mi · 379
- Whitesburg Middle School2.2 mi · 535
Frequently asked questions
About Virgil Grissom High SchoolHow many students attend Virgil Grissom High School?
Virgil Grissom High School enrolls approximately 1,847 students in grades 09-12.
What age range does Virgil Grissom High School serve?
Virgil Grissom High School serves students from grade 09 through grade 12.
How many teachers does Virgil Grissom High School have?
Virgil Grissom High School employs 100 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 18.6:1.
What is the student diversity at Virgil Grissom High School?
Student demographics at Virgil Grissom High School are roughly 52% White, 21% Hispanic, 17% Black, 3% Asian, 7% Two or more.
Is Virgil Grissom High School public or private?
Virgil Grissom High School is a public K-12 school, overseen by Huntsville City.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.