Randolph County High School, Wedowee AL

Original Research by School Decision on Randolph County High School

Randolph County High School serves roughly four hundred fifty students in grades seven through twelve in Wedowee, the county seat of Randolph County, a very small town in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. The school is a regular public institution within the Randolph County system. Its student body is predominantly white, with modest shares of Black and Hispanic students, and about three out of every four students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a high concentration of low-income families. The school shares its town with an elementary school, a middle school, a career technology center, and a private K-12 school, making Wedowee the educational hub for a rural county.

On the most recent state assessments, administered in the 2024-25 school year, performance was mixed. In English language arts, roughly half of seventh graders and just under half of eighth graders met the state’s proficiency standard. Science results for eighth graders were lower, with fewer than three in ten scoring proficient. Math results were a particular weak spot: about one in ten seventh graders and an even smaller share of eighth graders reached proficiency. Across all tested subjects and grades, the school’s overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile when compared to the only other district in Randolph County. That comparison set is very small — just two districts — so the position is stark but not statistically robust. No graduation rate was reported in the available data, which is unusual for a school serving twelfth grade; a parent may want to verify with the school whether that data exists and how it looks. Chronic absenteeism rates, special education counts, and English learner counts were also not available in this data set, so a family looking for comprehensive support information would need to ask directly.

The town of Wedowee has a traditional small-town layout centered on the Randolph County Courthouse. US Highway runs through the middle of town as the main commercial corridor. Population has been relatively stable but slightly declining in recent decades. Recent economic growth has come from Lake Wedowee tourism, with new businesses and merchants locating in town to serve lake visitors and county residents. Housing values in the Wedowee zip code are a notable feature: they sit above the statewide median, and close to the national median, reflecting the draw of lake-area properties. The district itself shows no major recent changes in publicly reported information.

The academic pathway at Randolph County High School appears to carry significant challenges, particularly in mathematics, where proficiency rates are very low. Families considering this school should look into whether the school offers targeted support or interventions in math, and what the high school coursework and graduation outcomes look like beyond the middle grades tested here. The student body is largely low-income, which often comes with additional needs that the school may or may not be resourced to meet. The setting is rural, car-dependent, with a quiet civic life anchored by the courthouse and seasonal lake tourism. For a family that values a small, community-focused school in a rural Alabama town, Randolph County High School offers that context, but the academic numbers point to areas that merit close attention.

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Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

85-89%Cohort of 72 students · Class of 2021

The federal source publishes a banded range instead of an exact rate when the graduating cohort is small enough that an exact number could risk identifying individual students.

How this school compares to all schools in this state

Each dot is one school’s SY 2020-21 graduation rate, binned by integer rate. Taller columns mean more schools at that rate. This school is highlighted.

373 schools plotted. 7 additional schools' rates are federally suppressed and not shown. Data: EDFacts SY 2020-21.

Math

Grade 710%

School 10% · District 13% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▼ 7 pts below state median

Grade 86%

School 6% · District 10% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 9 pts below state median

English language arts

Grade 753%

School 53% · District 59% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 1 pts below state median

Grade 848%

School 48% · District 57% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 4 pts below state median

Science

Grade 829%

School 29% · District 32% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▼ 6 pts below state median

This schoolRandolph 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.