New Alabama school rankings from U.S. News & World Report place Montgomery’s Forest Avenue Academic Magnet School and Tuscaloosa Magnet Middle School at the top of the state.
U.S. News released its 2027 Best Elementary and Middle Schools rankings Tuesday, evaluating roughly 46,000 public elementary schools and more than 24,000 middle schools nationwide. Schools are ranked within their states rather than against schools operating under different state testing systems.
Forest Avenue Academic Magnet ranked No. 1 among Alabama elementary schools, while Tuscaloosa Magnet Middle took the top spot among the state’s middle schools.
The rankings are based primarily on reading and math performance from the 2023-24 school year.
U.S. News updated its methodology for the 2027 rankings to incorporate student performance across all achievement levels, rather than focusing primarily on whether students reached a proficiency benchmark. The organization uses data collected from state education agencies by RTI International along with information from the U.S. Department of Education.
Half of a school’s ranking is based on overall student achievement in reading and mathematics. The other half measures how students performed relative to expectations based on the demographic makeup of the school, including socioeconomic factors. Student-teacher ratios are used as a tiebreaker.
That approach is intended to account for both a school’s raw academic results and how effectively it serves its particular student population.
U.S. News also produces separate rankings for charter schools and rankings within eligible school districts.
The top-ranked Alabama elementary and middle schools are listed below.
Top 10 Alabama public elementary schools
1. Forest Avenue Elementary School — Montgomery
2. Eicholdmertz School of Math and Science — Mobile
3. W H Council Traditional School — Mobile
4. Kilby Laboratory School — Florence
5. Saraland Elementary School — Saraland
6. Carver School of Mathematics Science and Technology — Dothan
7. Old Shell Road Magnet School — Mobile
8. Greystone Elementary School — Hoover
9. Leon Sheffield Magnet Elementary School — Decatur
10. Bear Exploration Center — Montgomery
Top 10 Alabama public middle schools
1. Tuscaloosa Magnet School Middle — Tuscaloosa
2. Jefferson County International Baccalaureate School — Pleasant Grove
3. Saraland Middle Schooladams Campus — Saraland
4. Barton Academy for Advanced World Studies — Mobile
5. Clarkshaw Magnet School — Mobile
6. Phillips Preparatory Middle School — Mobile
7. George W Long High School — Skipperville
8. Piedmont Middle School — Piedmont
9. Pizitz Middle School — Vestavia
10. Straughn Middle School — Andalusia
Sawyer Knowles is a state and political reporter for Yellowhammer News. You may contact him at [email protected].
