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Decatur High Developmental

Decatur · AL · Decatur City · Public

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📋 At a glance

Programs & features
Academic signals
  • 🎓 AP rigor: Bottom 6% of US high schools
  • 🎓 4-yr grad rate: 24% (Bottom 4% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate)

Composed from federal CRDC offerings, EDFacts ACGR, and other public data. Full breakdowns below.

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How Decatur High Developmental compares for families

What families should know about Decatur High Developmental.

  • LocallyAL trails the US average on NAEP 8th-grade math (−10 points). Stronger local schools matter even more.
  • vs Similar SchoolsThe closest comparables nearby: Decatur High School, Long Term Case, Career Academies of Decatur and 5 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.

For Parents

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SAT / ACT participation

CRDC federal data · 2020-21
SAT/ACT test-takers
0
11th-12th graders who took 1+ college admissions test
Test-taking intensity
0.0
takers per 100 students in grades 9-12

Source: federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC 2020-21). Volume — not score — is what's reported here. A higher count means more students at this school are entering the college admissions pipeline. Note: 2020-21 was COVID-disrupted; some districts (especially those that stayed remote longer) report unusually low or zero takers.

🎓 4-year graduation rate · federal EDFacts

What % of students graduate on time?

Bottom 4% of US high schools by 4-yr grad rate

50th 90th
4-year graduation rate
24%
Single-point estimate
4-year cohort size
6
Students in the 9th-grade entry class tracked over 4 years
Compared against
17,988
US high schools reporting 4-year ACGR

Source: federal EDFacts ACGR (Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate), 2019 vintage via Urban Institute. EDFacts publishes a range (low-high) to preserve privacy on small cohorts; we display the midpoint.

🏛️ Federal Title I context

High-poverty school

Title I Schoolwide eligible

75.7%
FRPL rate — % of students who qualify for the federal Free or Reduced-Price Lunch program. This is the underlying federal income-eligibility signal Title I designations are computed from (ESEA Sec. 1113).
0% (no FRPL) 35% TA · 40% Schoolwide 100% (universal FRPL)

≥75% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch. These schools qualify for the highest tier of federal Title I funding and typically receive extra wraparound services. Academic outcomes vary widely — check the state assessment + grad-rate tiles.

Source: NCES Common Core of Data, free/reduced-price lunch eligibility. The actual Title I designation is a district decision and may differ from eligibility — but the federal eligibility math is what we show here. We don't claim to assert whether the district formally chose to enroll this school in Title I.

Chronic absenteeism

Share of students absent 15+ days
18.9%
Roughly average. The national post-COVID rate climbed to ~16% nationwide; this school is in the middle of the pack.
Students absent 15+ days
7
Federal definition: absent (excused or unexcused) for at least 15 of ~180 school days — about 10% of the school year.

Why this matters to enrollment: Chronic absence is the strongest early indicator of dropout, transfer-out, and family disengagement. A school's absenteeism trend forecasts its enrollment trend 1-3 years out. For school leaders: an Enrollment Trend Audit traces this dynamic forward →

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Civil Rights Data Collection 2020–2021. Rate = students chronically absent ÷ 2024 total enrollment.

Enrollment trend & projection

Total enrollment + grade 12, NCES Common Core of Data (2021–2024).

If the recent trend holds…

At its recent rate of -0.9%/year, projecting from 2024's 37 students:

2025
37
2027
36
2029
35

A small or specialty program — naive trend math doesn't capture the school's full picture. Read the trend as directional, not predictive.

An extrapolation of the recent trajectory, not a forecast of the school's plans; ignores one-off shocks.

Nearby high schools — the local competition

The closest high schools families here also consider, and where their enrollment is heading.

SchoolTypeMilesHS enrollmentTrend
Decatur High School
Decatur
Public 0.0 915 -8.2%
Long Term Case
Decatur
Public 0.8
Career Academies of Decatur
Decatur
Public 2.2 269
Career Technical Center
Decatur
Public 2.2
Cornerstone Christian School
Decatur
Private 3.5 59 -28.9%
Decatur Heritage Christian Academy
Decatur
Private 4.2 323 -11.0%
Austin High School
Decatur
Public 4.9 999 -3.7%
Priceville High School
Decatur
Public 5.2 506 +6.1%

For Parents

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