Kinston School, Kinston AL - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Kinston School

Kinston School is a single, regular public school serving all grades from pre-kindergarten through twelfth in the small rural town of Kinston, which sits in Coffee County’s Wiregrass region. The town itself is very small, with a population that has held stable for decades, and it functions as a quiet agricultural and residential community. The school is part of the Coffee County district, which operates three high schools—Kinston, New Brockton, and Zion Chapel—and has recently renewed a property tax without raising rates, securing long-term funding for teacher salaries, instructional materials, and facility upkeep.

On state assessments, Kinston School posts reading and language arts results that are among the strongest in the county. Across every tested grade from third through eighth, a large majority of students meet the proficiency standard. In several of those grades the share is very high, well above what is typical in the district or the state. Math proficiency is more mixed. In third, fourth, and sixth grades roughly two-thirds of students are proficient, which is respectable, but performance drops noticeably in seventh grade and is moderate in fifth and eighth. Science results for fourth and eighth graders fall in a range similar to the middle math grades. On a composite measure that averages all tested subjects and grades, Kinston School ranks in the top quartile among Coffee County’s three school districts, a clear signal of overall academic strength relative to its peers.

The student body is small and overwhelmingly white. More than ninety percent of students are white, with small shares of Hispanic, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, and Black students. Just over half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a measure of household income that is slightly above the national average but not extreme for a rural Alabama school. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about how those populations are supported.

Kinston School covers the full K-12 span, meaning a child can attend the same building from kindergarten through senior year. The district has publicly reported that it is expanding career technical education programs at all three high schools beginning in the upcoming school year, adding welding, healthcare science, and information technology options, funded by state grants. It has also expanded dual enrollment partnerships with Enterprise State Community College, offering college credit in STEM, business, and healthcare fields. For a student who wants a small, rural school with notable reading performance and growing vocational and college-credit pathways, Kinston School fits that profile.

The surrounding community offers little commercial activity; a historic downtown was largely lost to fire decades ago and never rebuilt. Geneva State Forest and Frank Jackson State Park provide nearby outdoor recreation. Housing in the area is relatively affordable compared to state and national benchmarks, and the unemployment rate is close to the national average. For families who value a tight-knit school that serves as a central institution in a quiet town, and where academic performance, especially in reading, stands out among neighboring districts, this is a place worth considering closely.

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Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

>=90%Cohort of 34 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 369%

School 69% · District 58% · ▲ 10 pts above district

▲ 26 pts above state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

Grade 469%

School 69% · District 63% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 32 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

Grade 553%

School 53% · District 58% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 666%

School 66% · District 50% · ▲ 16 pts above district

▲ 37 pts above state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Grade 736%

School 36% · District 25% · ▲ 11 pts above district

▲ 19 pts above state median

Grade 855%

School 55% · District 20% · ▲ 35 pts above district

▲ 40 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 394%

School 94% · District 76% · ▲ 19 pts above district

▲ 29 pts above state median · ▲ 22 pts above county median

Grade 474%

School 74% · District 73% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 15 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 592%

School 92% · District 79% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▲ 25 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

Grade 677%

School 77% · District 64% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▲ 22 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Grade 778%

School 78% · District 67% · ▲ 11 pts above district

▲ 24 pts above state median

Grade 878%

School 78% · District 60% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 26 pts above state median

Science

Grade 455%

School 55% · District 61% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▲ 16 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 863%

School 63% · District 36% · ▲ 27 pts above district

▲ 28 pts above state median

This schoolCoffee 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.