Collins Intermediate School, Scottsboro AL

Original Research by School Decision on Collins Intermediate School

Collins Intermediate School serves fourth through sixth graders in Scottsboro, Alabama, and functions as one of the regular public schools within the Scottsboro City district. The school sits in a small city that is the county seat of Jackson County, a community defined by its historic downtown square, its location on Lake Guntersville and the Tennessee River, and a nationally known tourist attraction. Scottsboro has experienced modest population growth in recent years, and the city’s downtown revitalization has drawn some attention, but the school operates on its own campus rather than being integrated into that walkable core. Families considering this school are looking at a place where the peer environment is predominantly white, with a sizable Hispanic minority and a smaller Black share, and where a substantial majority of students come from low-income households based on federal meal-program data.

The academic picture comes from the state’s 2024-25 assessments. Collins Intermediate shows its clearest strength in English language arts, where proficiency rates are solid across all three grades and reach a notably high level in fifth grade. Science testing is administered only in fourth grade, and that result is also solid. The weaker area is math, where the share of students meeting proficiency is considerably lower in fourth and sixth grades; fifth-grade math is stronger but still trails the school’s own ELA performance. A parent may want to look into what math support is offered, especially for younger students and those at the top of the intermediate span. Because the state changed its assessment framework in recent years, only a single year of data is available, so there is no way to tell whether these results reflect a trend or a single snapshot.

When placed among the districts in Jackson County, Collins Intermediate stands above the midpoint in overall proficiency. The comparison set is small—only two districts—so that position is best understood as a local benchmark rather than a statewide ranking. The school does not serve high school grades, so no graduation rate applies. Data on chronic absenteeism, staffing ratios, and discipline incidents were not available, so a full picture of school climate is incomplete from the information provided.

Scottsboro itself offers certain contextual advantages. The city is a county seat with civic institutions, a recognized Main Street program, and recreational access to a large lake and river. The median home value in the area is below the state benchmark, which may matter for families considering relocation. The district as a whole has not reported any recent major changes or strategic shifts that would alter the school’s trajectory.

For a family evaluating Collins Intermediate, the core takeaway is a school where literacy outcomes are a genuine strength and math results invite closer questioning. The student body reflects the area’s economic and racial composition, and the setting is a modestly growing small city with a distinct downtown identity. The absence of data on special education and English learner populations, as well as on teacher qualifications and chronic absenteeism, means a parent would want to ask the school directly about those topics to get a fuller sense of how well the school supports all its students.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 443%

School 43% · District 43%

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

Grade 553%

School 53% · District 53%

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

Grade 638%

School 38% · District 38%

▲ 9 pts above state median · even with county median

English language arts

Grade 466%

School 66% · District 66%

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 579%

School 79% · District 79%

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

Grade 664%

School 64% · District 64%

▲ 9 pts above state median · even with county median

Science

Grade 461%

School 61% · District 61%

▲ 22 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

This schoolScottsboro City, 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 4Lower-income59%Higher-income77%17 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income70%Higher-income89%19 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income47%Higher-income83%37 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income31%Higher-income63%31 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income40%Higher-income68%28 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income20%Higher-income58%38 pp gap