Appalachian School, Oneonta AL - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Appalachian School

Appalachian School serves students from pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade in a single building, a structure that shapes the experience of every family connected to it. The school sits in a rural part of Blount County near Oneonta, and it is part of the Blount County school district, not the separate Oneonta City district that runs the schools inside the town itself. That distinction matters: Appalachian School draws from the county’s broader, more spread-out population, and it is the only school in the county that covers the full K-12 span under one roof.

The student body is large enough to offer grade-level classes across the years but small enough that most teachers and students know each other. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, a figure that gives a sense of the economic context families are working within. The racial makeup is predominantly white, with a notable Hispanic minority and very small representations of other groups. There were no special-population counts available for students with disabilities or English learners, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about how those populations are served.

The academic picture is uneven in a way that warrants attention. In English language arts, the school shows solid proficiency rates in the elementary grades, with a majority of students meeting the bar through most middle-grade years. By eighth grade that rate drops notably. Math tells a harder story. Proficiency in math starts low in third grade and declines sharply through the grades, landing at a level that is weak by any measure by eighth grade. Science results follow a similar pattern, with fourth grade showing a moderate proficiency rate and eighth grade much lower. The school’s overall proficiency index falls in the bottom quartile relative to other districts in Blount County. A parent considering this school should ask what math interventions are in place for middle and upper grades, and how the school supports students who have not yet reached grade-level expectations.

The school serves pre-K through twelfth grade, but state testing data was available only for grades three through eight, which is typical for Alabama’s assessment system. There were no high school end-of-course test results in the data, and no graduation rate was reported, so a parent of an older student will need to seek out those figures directly from the school or district. The school offers no publicly listed information about Advanced Placement, dual enrollment, or career-technical course access. The county-level Blount County district did recently open a new career technical center, which could be available to Appalachian students, but that is a district facility and specifics about student access were not provided.

The community context of Oneonta offers some practical benefits. The city has a downtown courthouse square, an 80-acre park with hiking trails, and a Wallace State Community College campus that offers dual enrollment opportunities. The city positions itself as growing, with an industrial park and incentive packages for business, though no major new housing developments appeared in available sources. The area has a mix of residential and commercial development, and the commute to Birmingham is manageable. Housing values here are below the national typical level, and estimates suggest that buying is more expensive than renting by a noticeable margin, which may affect a family’s housing decision.

A family considering Appalachian School should weigh the full-grade span and small-community feel against the clear academic challenges in math and science. The school may fit a family that values a single K-12 campus, knows their child will need strong support in math, and is willing to ask hard questions about the high school course offerings and post-secondary preparation that were not visible in the available data.

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Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

>=90%Cohort of 42 students · Class of 2021

The federal source publishes a banded range instead of an exact rate when the graduating cohort is small enough that an exact number could risk identifying individual students.

How this school compares to all schools in this state

Each dot is one school’s SY 2020-21 graduation rate, binned by integer rate. Taller columns mean more schools at that rate. This school is highlighted.

373 schools plotted. 7 additional schools' rates are federally suppressed and not shown. Data: EDFacts SY 2020-21.

Math

Grade 354%

School 54% · District 54%

▲ 11 pts above state median

Grade 426%

School 26% · District 47% · ▼ 21 pts below district

▼ 11 pts below state median

Grade 518%

School 18% · District 38% · ▼ 20 pts below district

▼ 15 pts below state median

Grade 636%

School 36% · District 45% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▲ 7 pts above state median

Grade 715%

School 15% · District 21% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 2 pts below state median

Grade 89%

School 9% · District 19% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 6 pts below state median

English language arts

Grade 370%

School 70% · District 79% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▲ 5 pts above state median

Grade 471%

School 71% · District 70% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 12 pts above state median

Grade 576%

School 76% · District 71% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 9 pts above state median

Grade 664%

School 64% · District 62% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 8 pts above state median

Grade 769%

School 69% · District 61% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▲ 15 pts above state median

Grade 851%

School 51% · District 51%

▼ 1 pts below state median

Science

Grade 452%

School 52% · District 53% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 13 pts above state median

Grade 828%

School 28% · District 35% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 7 pts below state median

This schoolBlount County, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.