Madison City Schools named best Alabama school district

Published 8:51 am Wednesday, September 28, 2022

Madison City Schools is ranked the Best Public School District in Alabama for 2022-2023, according to a national education research group study released Tuesday.

The report by NICHE placed Madison City Schools No.1 out of 138 school districts statewide, and 57th best of 10,571 school systems nationwide.

Individual schools in Madison also fared well in the NICHE report, with all in the top tier.

The seven elementary schools in Madison City all landed in the top 10 of the school rankings. Mill Creek at #3; Horizon, #4; Heritage, #5; Columbia, #6; Midtown, #8; Madison, #9; and Rainbow #10. That’s out of 741 elementary schools ranked statewide.

Discovery Middle placed 1st and Liberty 5th out of 397 middle schools ranked statewide. James Clemens placed 6th and Bob Jones 9th out of 365 Alabama high schools.

Madison City Schools Superintendent Dr. Ed Nichols said being in the top tier in every category is a “true community effort” that everyone can be proud of for achieving.

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

Dr. Nichols credited the past and current board and community leaders for decisions that support an incredible curriculum for all students.

He said the close rankings by all schools in Madison City affirm longstanding district efforts to ensure quality education to all children no matter what school they attend. Dr. Nichols commended the board and community for decisions – sometimes difficult ones like rezoning and the recent tax increase for schools – that continually keep MCS at the forefront of school districts nationwide.

NICHE says it bases its annual evaluations using a variety of criteria including state test scores, college readiness, graduation rates, SAT/ACT scores, teacher quality, public school and district ratings and opinions from parents and students.

Print Article