Sumiton Middle School, Sumiton AL

Original Research by School Decision on Sumiton Middle School

Sumiton Middle School serves grades five through eight as part of the Walker County school district in the town of Sumiton, a small Alabama community that began as a post-Civil War mining town centered on a railroad. The city describes itself as having grown extensively in recent years with the addition of national chain stores, new restaurants, and other local businesses, alongside residential options that include upscale subdivisions and older homes. Despite this reported commercial growth, the town's population has declined modestly over the past two decades. Sumiton is also home to a campus of Bevill State Community College, and the area is connected by Old U.S. Highway 78 and nearby Interstate 22.

The school itself is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet institution, and it serves a predominantly white student body with smaller shares of Black, Hispanic, and multiracial students. A substantial share of the student population qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch. Data on special education identification and English learner status was not reported, leaving a gap for anyone wanting to understand the full range of support services in place.

On state testing, the picture is mixed and shifts notably by grade level and subject. In English language arts, the school shows a stronger profile in the earlier grades, with roughly three-fifths of fifth graders meeting proficiency. That figure drops to about two-fifths in sixth and seventh grade, then falls further in eighth grade, where roughly one-third of students are proficient. Math proficiency rates are consistently lower across all grades, and the decline by grade is steep. In fifth grade, about a quarter of students are proficient in math. That number drops to roughly one in seven by sixth grade, and then to about one in eight by seventh. By eighth grade, only a small share of students are proficient in math. Science results, available for eighth grade only, show about a quarter of students proficient. There is only a single year of data available, so no trend can be assessed. When compared across other districts in Walker County, the school's overall proficiency index sits in the bottom quartile among the county's districts.

Because this is a middle school, there is no graduation rate to report, and the data did not include information on chronic absenteeism, course access, or staffing ratios. A parent may want to follow up with the school directly on those topics.

The district itself has been in flux. Walker County schools recently implemented a consolidation plan that closed several elementary schools, including Sumiton Elementary, with students reassigned to remaining district facilities. This change took effect in the 2024-2025 school year and affects where children in the community attend school and how far they must travel. At the same time, the district has launched new career technical education programs at the Walker County Center of Technology, including pathways in welding, healthcare sciences, and information technology, which represent a lasting curricular expansion for older students who will eventually move through the system.

Civic life in Sumiton includes a public library, a renovated baseball and softball park with a playground, and an annual Frog Festival on Main Street. The senior center also serves as a safe shelter during severe weather. For middle school families, the key takeaway is that Sumiton Middle School sits in a district undergoing structural change while the school itself faces real challenges in academic proficiency, particularly in math and in the later middle school grades. The town's commercial growth and the presence of a community college offer some local economic and educational resources, but the school's testing profile suggests that a family should investigate what academic support and acceleration opportunities are available to ensure the school's offerings align with their child's needs.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 524%

School 24% · District 32% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 18 pts below county median

Grade 615%

School 15% · District 28% · ▼ 13 pts below district

▼ 14 pts below state median

Grade 712%

School 12% · District 19% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 5 pts below state median

Grade 83%

School 3% · District 18% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 562%

School 62% · District 68% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Grade 643%

School 43% · District 57% · ▼ 13 pts below district

▼ 12 pts below state median

Grade 744%

School 44% · District 61% · ▼ 17 pts below district

▼ 10 pts below state median

Grade 834%

School 34% · District 47% · ▼ 13 pts below district

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▼ 18 pts below county median

Science

Grade 825%

School 25% · District 35% · ▼ 10 pts below district

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

This schoolWalker 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 5Lower-income51%Higher-income87%36 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income33%Higher-income62%30 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income44%Higher-income43%1 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income20%Higher-income36%16 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income10%Higher-income16%7 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income3%Higher-income3%0 pp gap