Ariton School, Ariton AL - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Ariton School

Ariton School is a single PK-12 campus that serves as the educational and social heart of its small rural town. The school sits on a site that has held a school since the early 1900s, and it is described as the hub of the community in a place where the downtown consists mostly of highway-front businesses and churches. For a family looking at this school, the most important fact is that it offers all grades in one building, a feature that can mean strong continuity for students from kindergarten through high school but also means that a single school environment shapes a child’s entire K-12 experience.

The academic picture comes from Alabama’s state assessments, which are administered in grades three through eight. On the reading and language arts portion, the school shows a clear strength. In most of the tested grades, a solid majority of students meet state standards, and several grade levels post particularly strong results. Math performance is more uneven. While some elementary and eighth-grade results are solid, the middle school years show a notable drop, with fewer than half of students proficient. A parent considering Ariton may want to look into what math supports are available, especially for students moving through grades six and seven. Science results, available for fourth and eighth grades, fall in a moderate range, with a majority of students meeting standards. Overall, when compared to the other school districts in Dale County, Ariton School’s combined proficiency across subjects lands in the top tier, a positive signal.

The student body is predominantly white, with smaller shares of Black and Hispanic students and a modest number of Asian and multiracial students. A substantial portion of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which means the school serves a community with a mix of economic circumstances. The town of Ariton itself has a low median household income and modest home values, and the local economy is spread across manufacturing, public administration, retail, and education. Housing in the area is notably more affordable than the state or national median, and the population has been stable to slightly declining in recent years, with no major new development reported. For a family moving to the area, this is a quiet, slow-growing place where the school is the main civic institution.

One gap in the available data is the high school graduation rate. Although the school serves twelfth grade, no graduation rate was reported in the information we reviewed, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about its four-year completion rate. Similarly, information on program offerings such as Advanced Placement, dual enrollment, career and technical education courses, or extracurricular activities was not available in the data. Given that this is a small rural school, the range of elective and advanced coursework may be more limited than what a large suburban high school offers, but without specific program details, it is hard to assess. Discipline data and chronic absenteeism rates were also absent.

The district-level context shows no major recent changes reported for Dale County schools. Ariton School has undergone some facility improvements over the years, including classroom additions and a new gymnasium, but no larger district shifts or strategic initiatives were identified. For a parent, the school’s stability and its role as the center of town life are likely the most immediate takeaways.

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Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

>=95%Cohort of 62 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 55% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 14 pts above state median

Grade 452%

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

▲ 15 pts above state median

Grade 536%

School 36% · District 47% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▲ 2 pts above state median

Grade 650%

School 50% · District 47% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 21 pts above state median

Grade 726%

School 26% · District 26% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 10 pts above state median

Grade 867%

School 67% · District 55% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▲ 52 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 374%

School 74% · District 77% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▲ 9 pts above state median

Grade 465%

School 65% · District 71% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▲ 7 pts above state median

Grade 582%

School 82% · District 75% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▲ 16 pts above state median

Grade 674%

School 74% · District 68% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 19 pts above state median

Grade 762%

School 62% · District 59% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 8 pts above state median

Grade 875%

School 75% · District 65% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 23 pts above state median

Science

Grade 465%

School 65% · District 49% · ▲ 16 pts above district

▲ 27 pts above state median

Grade 864%

School 64% · District 57% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▲ 29 pts above state median

This schoolDale 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.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 5Lower-income72%Higher-income92%20 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income45%Higher-income80%35 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income47%Higher-income66%19 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income17%Higher-income54%37 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income45%Higher-income54%9 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income18%Higher-income35%18 pp gap