East Franklin Junior High School, Phil Campbell AL

Original Research by School Decision on East Franklin Junior High School

East Franklin Junior High School serves students from pre-kindergarten through ninth grade in Phil Campbell, a small rural town in Franklin County. The school is part of the Franklin County district and sits on Highway 89, a main route through the area. The town itself was heavily shaped by the 2011 EF-5 tornado that destroyed much of its built environment, including the previous high school, and the community has been rebuilding since. The school's grade span is unusual: it covers early elementary through the first year of high school, meaning a child could attend this one building from pre-K through ninth grade before moving to a separate high school.

The student body is small and predominantly white, with a Hispanic population making up a notable share. More than half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a marker of the working-class character of the community. The school is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet, and is part of the Franklin County district.

State testing results from the 2024-25 school year show a mixed picture across grade levels and subjects. In English language arts, proficiency rates range from roughly half of students meeting the bar in fourth and sixth grades to a stronger showing in seventh and eighth grades, where more than seven in ten students scored proficient. Math results are more uneven. Fourth graders posted a high proficiency rate, but third, fifth, and sixth graders had lower rates, with sixth grade particularly soft. Seventh and eighth graders rebounded to a moderate level. In science, fourth graders and eighth graders both posted rates that were solid. When the school is compared to other districts in Franklin County, its overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades lands in the top quartile, meaning it performs well relative to the other district in the county.

Because the school serves pre-kindergarten through ninth grade, it does not have a graduation rate to report. That metric is not applicable here, as students move to a separate high school after ninth grade. The school's academic data comes from a single year, so there is no trend to examine yet.

The school's enrollment is small, and the grade-level groups are small enough that a single year's results can shift noticeably from one grade to the next. That is visible in the math results, where fourth graders performed very well but third, fifth, and sixth graders did not. A parent looking at these numbers should consider that small cohorts mean less stability from year to year. The English language arts results are more consistent, with most grades landing in a moderate to solid range and seventh and eighth graders showing a clear strength.

The community context matters here. Phil Campbell is a working-class town that has been rebuilding since a devastating tornado. Housing values in the area are well below national and state benchmarks, and the local economy is anchored by the school system, the community college, and small-scale employers. The school itself is a central institution in a town that has invested in rebuilding its educational facilities. For a family considering this school, the key factors are the small size, the rural setting, the mixed but sometimes strong academic results in the upper middle grades, and the reality that a single year of data is the only picture available so far. A parent may want to ask the school about how it supports students in the grades where math proficiency dipped, and about what programs are available for the pre-kindergarten and early elementary years.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 344%

School 44% · District 38% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 1 pts above state median

Grade 482%

School 82% · District 55% · ▲ 28 pts above district

▲ 45 pts above state median

Grade 544%

School 44% · District 41% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 11 pts above state median

Grade 629%

School 29% · District 34% · ▼ 5 pts below district

even with state median

Grade 756%

School 56% · District 29% · ▲ 27 pts above district

▲ 39 pts above state median

Grade 856%

School 56% · District 27% · ▲ 29 pts above district

▲ 40 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 359%

School 59% · District 63% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 6 pts below state median

Grade 453%

School 53% · District 60% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 5 pts below state median

Grade 556%

School 56% · District 65% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 10 pts below state median

Grade 650%

School 50% · District 52% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 5 pts below state median

Grade 772%

School 72% · District 59% · ▲ 14 pts above district

▲ 18 pts above state median

Grade 872%

School 72% · District 53% · ▲ 19 pts above district

▲ 20 pts above state median

Science

Grade 459%

School 59% · District 52% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▲ 20 pts above state median

Grade 867%

School 67% · District 45% · ▲ 22 pts above district

▲ 32 pts above state median

This schoolFranklin 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.