Cullman Middle School ranked 15th out of 400 public middle school's in Niche's 2019 Best Schools in Alabama report. (Christy Perry for The Cullman Tribune)
CULLMAN – Niche.com, an online rating group described by Forbes Magazine as a kind of “Yelp” for education, has included several Cullman area schools in its 2019 “Best Schools in Alabama” and “Best Teachers in Alabama” rankings.
Niche describes itself as “a website that helps you discover the schools, companies, and neighborhoods that are right for you. We rigorously analyze dozens of public data sets and millions of reviews to produce comprehensive rankings, report cards, and profiles for K-12 Schools, Colleges, Places to Live, and Places to Work.”
According to information on the organization’s website, Niche compiled its “Best Schools” rankings based on factors including state assessment proficiency, teacher salaries, teacher absenteeism, state test results, analysis of academic and student life data, racial and economic diversity, as well as student and parent reviews and surveys in multiple categories. Its “Best Teachers in Alabama” rankings were based on factors including state assessment proficiency, parent/student surveys, teacher absenteeism, average teacher salary in the district and salary v. area median income, the length of time teachers have been teaching and ratio of teachers to students.
Rankings among schools in Alabama
Breaking the results down into elementary, middle and high school categories yields the following statewide rankings for several Cullman area schools. Only those in the top 50 in each category are listed.
Elementary schools (out of 770 schools)
- East Elementary School ranked number 46
- West Elementary School ranked number 47
Middle schools (out of 400 public schools)
- Cullman Middle School ranked number 15
- Arab Junior High School ranked number 32
High schools (out of 376 public schools, 184 private schools)
- Cullman High School ranked number 13
- Arab High School ranked number 32
- St. Bernard ranked number 13 among private schools
Best teacher rankings
High schools
- West Point High School ranked number 17
- Cullman High School ranked number 23
- Cold Springs High School ranked number 25
- Holly Pond High School ranked number 28
- Vinemont High School ranked number 33
- Arab High School ranked number 44
- Cullman Christian School ranked number 11 among private schools
- St. Bernard Prep School ranked number 17 among private schools
Middle schools
- Fairview Middle School ranked number 4
- Cullman Middle School ranked number 9
- Parkside Elementary School (K-8) ranked number 11
- West Point Middle School ranked number 19
- Arab Junior High School ranked number 22
- Cold Springs Elementary School (K-8) ranked number 23
- Vinemont Middle School ranked number 25
- Hanceville Middle School ranked number 39
- Cullman Christian School ranked number 10 among private schools
Elementary schools
- Welti Elementary School ranked number 18
- Parkside Elementary School ranked number 34
- West Point Elementary School ranked number 44
- Cullman Christian School ranked number 9 among private schools
Other Niche overall statewide “best” rankings
Cullman City Schools ranked:
- Districts with the best teachers – 5
- Best places to teach – 6
- Best school districts – 10
- Safest school districts – 10
Cullman County Schools ranked:
- Safest school districts – 20
- Districts with the best teachers – 28
- Best places to teach – 44
By the way, in Niche’s most recent (2018) municipal rankings, the city of Cullman ranked number 43 out of 194 listings of “Best Places to Live,” number 34 among “Best Places to Raise a Family,” number 35 among “Safest,” and number 47 among “Best Places for Millennials,” but number 103 among “Best Places to Buy a House” and number 114 among “Places with the Lowest Cost of Living.”
For more on Niche rankings, visit www.niche.com.
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