The top reported proficiency rate is 26% in English language arts. The lowest is 5% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Robert Brown Middle School
Robert Brown Middle School serves roughly 330 students in grades four through eight in Eutaw, the county seat of Greene County in Alabama’s Black Belt region. The school is a regular public middle school, part of the Greene County district. The student body is heavily concentrated: nearly all students are Black, and a very large share qualify for free or reduced-price meals. The school’s setting is a small, economically distressed town whose population has been declining, and whose median household income is low and poverty rate is high. Agriculture dominates the broader county economy, and major employers are limited. Eutaw itself has a historic courthouse square and several antebellum structures, but the local economy offers few opportunities. The district brief turned up no recent structural changes or initiatives worth flagging; the district appears stable in its basic operations.
Academically, the state testing results from the Alabama Comprehensive Assessment Program (ACAP) for the school year ending in 2025 present a very challenging picture. In math, proficiency rates across all tested grades were low, with only a small fraction of students meeting the bar in grade four and even fewer in grades five through eight. Reading (ELA) scores were somewhat higher but still well below where most families would hope: about a quarter to a third of students in grades four through seven scored proficient, but the eighth-grade ELA rate dropped sharply. Science results were also low, with single-digit proficiency in both grade four and grade eight. Across all subjects, the schoolwide proficiency rate for math was in the single digits, for ELA it was about a quarter of students, and for science it was below one in ten. These are the only assessment results available, covering one year, so there is no trend to compare. A parent considering this school should know that academic performance is a serious concern and may want to ask the school directly about instructional supports, intervention programs, and any recent efforts to raise achievement.
The school’s environment reflects the community it serves. Eutaw is a small rural town with limited street life and walkability concentrated around the courthouse square. The school itself sits on Mesopotamia Street, a main east-west route through town. With a declining population and no major private employers, the area offers few of the amenities families might find in a growing suburban district. Housing costs in the area are well below national and state benchmarks, making it an affordable place to live for those who already have ties or work locally. The mortgage on a typical home would be modest relative to national incomes, but local incomes are also modest, so affordability cuts both ways.
The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report. No information on chronic absenteeism, discipline rates, course access, or staffing was available in the data provided. A parent would need to gather those details from the school or district directly. Similarly, no program offerings—such as gifted, arts, or career-technical pathways—were listed. Given the school’s size and the district’s limited resources, families should not expect a broad menu of electives or advanced coursework at the middle school level. Students who remain in the Greene County district will move on to a single high school in Eutaw.
In sum, Robert Brown Middle School sits at the center of a small, struggling community. Its test scores are very low across the board, and the economic context is one of persistent poverty and decline. A parent who values high academic performance or a wide range of programs will likely find this school does not meet those expectations. For a family already rooted in Greene County, the school is a community institution with a clear and stable mission, but the academic challenges are real and have not yet shown signs of improvement in the available data. Anyone considering a move to the area would want to visit the school, talk with staff about classroom practices, and look into any supplementary academic support available outside of school.
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