Mcadory Middle School, Mccalla AL

Original Research by School Decision on Mcadory Middle School

McAdory Middle School serves students in sixth through eighth grade as a regular public school within the Jefferson County school system in McCalla, Alabama. The school is part of a cluster that also includes McAdory Elementary, McCalla Elementary, and McAdory High School. McCalla is an unincorporated census-designated place southwest of Birmingham that remains largely residential and rural, centered near interstate highway junctions. It functions primarily as a commuter community, with no traditional downtown or city hall. The area has experienced steady suburban growth, and an effort to incorporate the community as a municipality was launched in recent years but has not yet succeeded.

Enrollment at McAdory Middle School is substantial for a middle school, with roughly comparable numbers of students in each grade. The student body is diverse. A majority of students are Black, with a substantial Hispanic population and a smaller group of white students. A significant share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that a large portion of families are of lower economic means. Data on the share of students receiving special education services or classified as English learners was not available.

Academically, the picture is mixed. On state assessments, English language arts results are the most notable strength. Across all tested grades, roughly half of the school's students met the proficiency standard, a figure that lands around the middle of the range among area middle schools. Science results, tested only in eighth grade, show about a quarter of students meeting the proficiency bar, which is below the county midpoint. Math results present a clear area of concern. Proficiency rates are very low across all three grades, and the overall math proficiency figure places the school well below the midpoint for Jefferson County districts. Overall academic performance, when combining all tested subjects, sits below the midpoint relative to the county's other school systems. Only a single year of state test data was available, so it is not possible to identify trends from this information alone.

Because McAdory Middle School serves only through eighth grade, there is no graduation rate to report. The school does not serve high school grades, so that measure does not apply here. The Jefferson County school system has not had a significant recent change that is publicly reported and of lasting impact.

The housing market in the McCalla ZIP code shows home values that are above the state median. Rents are in a range that would be manageable for a household earning the national median income. The national unemployment rate has been steady, and the national median household income has shown consistent modest growth in recent years.

For a family considering this school, the key consideration is whether their child will be well matched to a setting where math achievement is a clear challenge that will require additional support from home and from the school. The English language arts results suggest that many students are developing grade-level reading and writing skills. The school serves a diverse, economically mixed population in a growing but still rural exurban community. A parent may want to look into the school's math curriculum and intervention programs further with the school to understand what supports are in place for students who are below grade level in that subject.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 613%

School 13% · District 18% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Grade 77%

School 7% · District 14% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 84%

School 4% · District 11% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 12 pts below state median · even with county median

English language arts

Grade 649%

School 49% · District 47% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Grade 740%

School 40% · District 47% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 848%

School 48% · District 44% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

Science

Grade 823%

School 23% · District 29% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

This schoolJefferson 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 6Lower-income43%Higher-income61%18 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income33%Higher-income54%21 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income39%Higher-income61%21 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income15%Higher-income10%5 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income4%Higher-income12%8 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income1%Higher-income7%6 pp gap