Cedar Bluff High School, Cedar Bluff AL

Original Research by School Decision on Cedar Bluff High School

Cedar Bluff High School sits in the small lakefront town of the same name in Cherokee County, serving students from pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade in a single PK-12 building. The school is a regular public school and part of the Cherokee County district, which is the only district in the county, so there are no neighboring districts within Cherokee County to use as a comparison. The town of Cedar Bluff is a low-density recreational community on the north shore of Weiss Lake, known for its fishing and as a retirement destination, with a car-oriented layout along state highways and a modest town center. The school is woven into that fabric rather than set apart on a remote campus.

Enrollment is modest for a PK-12 school, and the student body is overwhelmingly white, with small shares of Black, multiracial, and Hispanic students. A substantial majority of students come from households with economic disadvantage, as reflected in the free-or-reduced-price lunch rate, which puts the school in a high-poverty context. Data on special education and English learner populations were not available from the source, so a parent would want to ask the school directly about the support structures for those students.

State assessment results from the ACAP, the Alabama testing program, offer a mixed picture. In English language arts, the school shows strength across the elementary and middle grades, with proficiency rates that are generally solid, particularly at third grade where the figure is well above half, and staying in a moderate-to-strong range through eighth grade. Mathematics is notably weaker. Proficiency in math drops off sharply as students move up, with very low rates at the upper elementary and middle school levels. Science results, available for fourth and eighth grades, land around the halfway mark. There is only one year of data available, so no trend can be assessed; a parent may want to ask the school how these results compare with prior years and what interventions are in place for math.

The school covers all grade levels, but the data did not include a four-year graduation rate, an attendance figure, or discipline records, so those pieces of the picture are missing. Because the school is a PK-12 regular school, a graduation rate would ordinarily apply to its high school cohort, but the source simply did not report it. A parent considering the high school segment should seek that information directly from the school or district.

The district brief turned up little in the way of recent changes such as referendums, construction, or curriculum shifts, so there is no notable news to report from that angle. The town itself has a stable, lake-oriented economy with no large private employers documented, and the school is a significant local public-sector employer. Housing values in the area are roughly in line with the state median, and the national median home price is a bit higher; the town markets itself for affordable lakeside living, which may appeal to families looking for a lower-cost setting.

For a family weighing this school, the strengths lie in English language arts instruction through the middle grades, while the math results are a clear soft spot that warrants follow-up. The small, rural school with a single campus serving all ages may appeal to those who want a community school where students stay in one building from kindergarten through high school. The high rate of economic disadvantage means the school likely receives Title I funding and has related supports, though the Title I status was not explicitly reported. Parents should inquire about course offerings at the high school level, extracurriculars, and career or dual-enrollment options, as those were not included in the available data. The school has been recognized by U.S. News and World Report as one of the best high schools in the nation, according to the town's website, which is a publicly reported accolade worth noting, though the specific ranking criteria are not available here. Overall, Cedar Bluff High School presents a familiar rural public school profile: strong basic instruction in literacy, weaker outcomes in math, a high-need student population, and a setting that is defined by the lake and a quiet, recreational town life.

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Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

>=80%Cohort of 25 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 357%

School 57% · District 43% · ▲ 15 pts above district

▲ 14 pts above state median

Grade 436%

School 36% · District 30% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▼ 1 pts below state median

Grade 524%

School 24% · District 44% · ▼ 20 pts below district

▼ 9 pts below state median

Grade 632%

School 32% · District 32%

▲ 3 pts above state median

Grade 745%

School 45% · District 24% · ▲ 21 pts above district

▲ 29 pts above state median

Grade 815%

School 15% · District 22% · ▼ 7 pts below district

even with state median

English language arts

Grade 389%

School 89% · District 73% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 24 pts above state median

Grade 467%

School 67% · District 58% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 8 pts above state median

Grade 569%

School 69% · District 69% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 2 pts above state median

Grade 660%

School 60% · District 57% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 4 pts above state median

Grade 765%

School 65% · District 55% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 11 pts above state median

Grade 859%

School 59% · District 56% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 7 pts above state median

Science

Grade 453%

School 53% · District 47% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 14 pts above state median

Grade 854%

School 54% · District 42% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▲ 19 pts above state median

This schoolCherokee 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.