The top reported proficiency rate is 44% in English language arts. The lowest is 7% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Excel Academy
EXCEL Academy is a small, regular public school serving grades six through twelve in Anniston, Alabama, within the Calhoun County district. The student body is predominantly white, with a substantial Black student population and smaller shares of Hispanic, Asian, multiracial, and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students. The school serves a high proportion of students from low-income households, a factor that families may want to consider alongside the academic profile. Enrollment is modest for a school covering middle and high school grades, and the grade-level counts indicate a student body that grows as students advance, with the largest group in the senior year.
On state assessments, EXCEL Academy’s results are mixed and generally on the lower side relative to other schools in the region. In reading, performance varies by grade: seventh graders showed a moderate proficiency rate, while eighth graders were considerably lower, and sixth-grade results were suppressed and unavailable. In math, proficiency was low across the board, with a small share of seventh graders meeting the bar and no eighth graders achieving proficiency in the most recent testing year. Science results for eighth graders were also very low. Overall, when averaging all tested subjects and grades, EXCEL Academy placed in the bottom quartile among schools across Calhoun County. A parent looking at these numbers may want to discuss with the school how it supports students who are not yet at grade level and what academic interventions or enrichment are in place. Because only a single year of assessment data was available, there is no trend to show whether performance is improving or declining. The school operates as a regular public school within the county system, and we looked for a graduation rate and chronic absenteeism data but did not find them in the records provided, so those important indicators cannot be assessed here.
The school is located in Anniston, a mid-sized city that serves as the county seat and a regional center for government, commerce, and culture in northeast Alabama. Anniston was founded as a private iron company town and retains an industrial heritage, with civic institutions clustered along Noble Street downtown and the former Fort McClellan site repurposed for training centers and a wildlife refuge. The city is considered one of the most affordable places to live in the country, with housing values below both state and national medians. The community is largely auto-dependent beyond the downtown core, though the Chief Ladiga Trail provides a pedestrian and bike route through the area. The Anniston Army Depot remains a major employer, and Interstate 20 offers regional highway access.
The district brief for Calhoun County did not surface any recent changes or initiatives of particular note to parents; the school appears to be operating without recent major district-level shifts. For a family considering EXCEL Academy, the picture is of a small school serving a high-poverty population in a low-cost city, where state test performance is well below county averages, especially in math and science. The school’s size may allow for more individualized attention, but a parent would want to investigate how the school addresses academic gaps and what pathways it offers for both college and career preparation at the high school level.
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