MADISON – Niche has rated Bob Jones as the area’s top high school and Discovery as the number one middle school. Madison’s other secondary schools followed closely with James Clemens High School in the fourth-place slot and Discovery Middle School as the sixth-best campus for Alabama middle schools.

The Niche firm is a market leader in connecting colleges and schools with students and families. Niche bases its findings on in-depth profiles on every school and college in America, more than 140 million reviews and ratings.

Placement in the top one percent or less in almost every category is a reflection of a “true community effort” in which residents can take pride, MCS Superintendent Dr. Ed Nichols said.

Niche helps millions of students and families identify the right school. Thousands of schools use Niche’s platform, data and services to help in enrolling more best-fit students. (niche.com/k12/bob-jones-high-school-madison-al/#academics)

“We are so appreciative of our teachers, faculty, families and our community,” Bob Jones Principal Sylvia Lambert said. “Congratulations to Discovery Middle School for being named the number-one middle school by Niche.”

In addition, Madison City Schools ranked as second among all 138 public school districts statewide in Alabama for 2021-2022. NICHE placed MCS behind only Homewood City Schools, a suburb of Birmingham.

Individual elementary schools fared equally as well in the NICHE report with all in the top tier. Elementary rankings included Mill Creek as third in Alabama; Horizon, fourth; Columbia, fifth; Heritage, seventh; West Madison, eighth; Madison Elementary School, ninth; and Rainbow, tenth. For elementary ratings, Niche evaluated 700-plus schools in Alabama.

In addition, MCS ranked third for “Best Teachers” and eighth place for teachers’ work setting.

“Certainly, teachers and staffs in our schools deserve much of the credit. They are the ones where the learning happens every day,” Nichols said. “It’s also a reflection of the great parents and kids we have in the district and an administrative team and board that continuously look for ways to improve.”

To Dr. Heather Donaldson, MCS Chief Academic Officer, the consistent returns from Niche “show that no matter where you live in Madison, no matter what level your child is at – elementary, middle or high school – he or she will go to a top quality school.”

Nichols credited Madison Board of Education and the community for decisions, sometimes difficult ones like rezoning and tax increases for new schools, that continually keep MCS at the forefront.

NICHE bases its evaluations on criteria, such as test scores, college readiness, graduation rates, SAT/ACT scores, teacher quality and opinions from students and parents.