The top reported proficiency rate is 62% in English language arts. The lowest is 25% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Cottonwood High School
Cottonwood High School serves grades seven through twelve in the small, rural town of Cottonwood, in the southern part of Houston County near the Florida line. The town is part of the Dothan metropolitan area, and its economy leans on retail, education and health care, and waste management. Cottonwood’s population has been declining over the past decade, and the town experienced a destructive EF2 tornado in early 2024. Housing values in the area sit below the national median, keeping the cost of living relatively low. The school is part of the Houston County district, which recently adopted a Science of Reading curriculum aligned with the Alabama Literacy Act and expanded its pre-K program. The district is also discussing a potential new school campus for the growing Rehobeth area, though that is not directly relevant to Cottonwood.
The student body at Cottonwood High School is small and predominantly white, with a substantial share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The school’s testing results come from state assessments administered in the 2024-25 school year. In English language arts, the school performs above the midpoint among the county’s districts. The proficiency rate in seventh grade is notably stronger than in eighth grade, suggesting a disparity between the two middle-grade cohorts, but the overall combined rate across tested grades and subjects places the school above the midpoint relative to other districts in Houston County.
Mathematics proficiency is a soft spot. The combined rate across all tested grades is low, with the seventh-grade rate markedly weaker than the eighth-grade rate. Science proficiency, tested in the eighth grade, is in a similar lower range. A parent may want to look into this further with the school, particularly to understand how math instruction is structured across the middle grades and whether any interventions or supports are in place for students who struggle with that subject. Only one year of state testing data was available, so it is not possible to see whether these results represent a trend or a single-year snapshot.
The school offers no data on advanced coursework, career and technical education offerings, or dual-enrollment programs, which are common avenues for high school students to earn college credit or gain vocational skills. Because the school serves a full secondary range, including grades eleven and twelve where such offerings typically matter most, this gap is worth noting. Publicly reported information on the school’s course catalog was not available in the source materials used here, so a family considering Cottonwood should ask directly about what pathways exist for college preparation and career training.
Discipline data, chronic absenteeism rates, and staffing figures are also absent from the available record. The graduation rate, a standard measure for high schools, was not present. The school’s data profile did not include special education or English learner counts, so it is unclear what share of students receive those services.
Cottonwood’s campus is located on Houston Street, a short distance from the town’s small downtown corridor along State Route 53. The town itself is low-density and car-oriented, with no public transit. Schools are part of the county system, and Cottonwood has one high school in town. The civic anchors are modest: Town Hall, a senior center, a sports complex, and a fire department. There is no public library in town. Families who live in Cottonwood typically drive to Dothan, about fourteen miles south, for shopping and services.
For a family weighing this school, the picture is mixed. The school’s English language arts results are a relative strength when placed against other Houston County districts. The small size of the student body can mean closer relationships with teachers, though the lack of data on advanced programming and graduation outcomes leaves open questions about the full academic pathway through the high school years. The math results are a clear area to investigate further, and the absence of any public course access data means a family will need to seek that information directly from the school administration.
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