Danville Middle School, Danville AL

Original Research by School Decision on Danville Middle School

Danville Middle School is a regular public school serving fifth through eighth grade in Morgan County, Alabama, part of the Morgan County school system. It is located in the unincorporated rural community of Danville, a small residential area within the Decatur metropolitan region. The school building sits on a highway west of town, and the surrounding landscape is low-density, with farmland and open spaces rather than a walkable downtown. Families in this area typically drive to nearby towns for shopping and services.

The academic picture at Danville Middle School is uneven. On the state assessments administered in the 2024-25 school year, English language arts proficiency rates varied by grade but were generally the school's stronger area. Reading and writing results at fifth grade were well above half of students meeting proficiency, and seventh grade also showed a comfortable majority. Sixth and eighth grade ELA results were closer to half proficient. In math, the story is different. Proficiency rates were low across all four grades, with none reaching a third of students proficient and the seventh grade figure the weakest. Science is assessed only at eighth grade, and about a third of students scored proficient. Compared to other districts within Morgan County, this school's overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades places it in the bottom quarter of the comparison group. A parent considering this school would likely want to speak with school leadership about the math results and what supports are in place.

The data does not include information on student discipline, chronic absenteeism, or staffing ratios for this school, so those aspects of the school environment are not part of this account. The school year assessed is the only year for which data is available, so trend information is not present.

Danville Middle School serves a student body that is predominantly white, with smaller shares of Hispanic and Black students and very small numbers of students from other racial groups. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that economic need is present across a meaningful part of the school population. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available from the provided sources.

The housing context in Danville reflects an affordable market relative to national benchmarks, with home values below the national median. The community is described in publicly reported sources as having rural charm, historical roots, and access to outdoor recreation. Cultural anchors in the area include the Jesse Owens Museum and Memorial Park and the Oakville Indian Mounds Education Center, which offer educational and historical programming. As an unincorporated community, Danville has no formal downtown; civic and educational facilities are dispersed.

The district parent brief found little publicly reported information about recent changes or strategic priorities at the Morgan County district level, so that dimension is absent from this narrative. What is clear is that Danville Middle School sits in a quiet, rural setting and offers standard middle grades programming for its community. The gap between its stronger ELA results and its weaker math performance is the most defining academic feature for a family to evaluate.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 524%

School 24% · District 52% · ▼ 28 pts below district

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 25 pts below county median

Grade 620%

School 20% · District 30% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 716%

School 16% · District 24% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 832%

School 32% · District 33% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 571%

School 71% · District 79% · ▼ 8 pts below district

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

Grade 651%

School 51% · District 58% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 4 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 762%

School 62% · District 63% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Grade 847%

School 47% · District 59% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 5 pts below state median · even with county median

Science

Grade 836%

School 36% · District 47% · ▼ 11 pts below district

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

This schoolMorgan 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-income37%Higher-income69%33 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income59%Higher-income66%7 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income38%Higher-income60%22 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 8Lower-income24%Higher-income43%19 pp gap