Other / mixed grade configuration · Ft Payne, AL

Ruhuma Junior High School

Federal NCES profile for Ruhuma Junior High School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 45/100.

2024-25 NCES dataOther / mixed grade configurationNCES 010114000423
0/100100/10045/100
👥 S:T ratio
42
🌟 Gifted program
70
🎓 Counselors
30
📋 Attendance
37
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →

The verdict

Ruhuma Junior High School earns 45/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 87% of Alabama schools. It is also one of the smallest schools in Alabama.

45
Resource Index · Typical
14.6:1
small classes for Alabama
73.3%
free-lunch eligible
175
students enrolled

Ruhuma Junior High School has class sizes smaller than 87% of Alabama schools. Computed live against every Alabama school reporting to NCES.

School address

Enrollment

175

Alabama · 2024-25 NCES data

Teachers (FTE)

12.0

Federal CCD staff survey

Students per teacher

14.6:1

vs 17.7:1 Alabama avg

-18% vs state

Free-lunch eligible

73.3%

vs 58.8% Alabama avg

+25% vs state

Student-teacher ratio in context

How Ruhuma Junior High School compares with Alabama and U.S. medians

Smaller classes than state median

Source: NCES Common Core of Data As of 2024-25 federal staff survey Total enrollment ÷ full-time-equivalent classroom teachers

What stands out at Ruhuma Junior High School

Ruhuma Junior High School is a higher-need, small combined-grade school in Ft Payne, Alabama, enrolling 175 students.

Classes run notably small here: at 14.6:1, Ruhuma Junior High School is leaner than roughly 87% of Alabama schools and 18% under the state's 17.7:1 norm, more adult attention per pupil than most peers.

Economic need runs somewhat above the state's typical profile, with 73.3% of students eligible for free meals.

This is a small campus: fewer students than 95% of Alabama schools, with 175 enrolled.

Its Resource Investment Index lands in the upper third of 1,365 scored Alabama schools.

Against 79 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks mid-pack at #34.

Its student body is led by White (70%) and American Indian / Alaska Native (19%) (diversity index 47/100).

Counselor availability sits well past the ASCA benchmark, roughly 350 students sharing each counselor, though short of the most stretched campuses.

Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 25.1% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).

Its district draws 20.6% of revenue from federal sources, an above-typical federal share that tends to track a higher-need student population.

Dekalb County also operates Geraldine School (1,211 students) and Plainview School (1,167 students) alongside Ruhuma Junior High School.

Sourced from NCES CCD, CRDC, and F-33 (federal records, not a quality verdict). How we source and compute this.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25

How Ruhuma Junior High School compares

Ruhuma Junior High School on the metrics families compare, against Alabama and U.S. means.

Metric This school vs Alabama Alabama avg U.S. avg
Students per teacher 14.6:1 ▼ 18% 17.7:1 15.7:1
Free-lunch eligible 73.3% ▲ 25% 58.8% 51.7%
Enrollment 175 top 95% - -

Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25

14.6:1
Leaner classes than 51% of US schools, a middle-of-the-pack class size.
175
Bigger than 17% of US schools by enrollment, a small campus.

Equity indicators (what these measure)

Economic need
73.3%
free-lunch eligible - 25% above the Alabama average of 58.8%
Above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold; federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
Staffing depth
14.6:1
students per teacher - 18% below state mean
Top 13% in Alabama - lower ratio than 87% of state schools
Close to the 15:1 benchmark most often cited for individualized attention.
Engagement
25.1%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
At or above 20%, the commonly used threshold for "high" chronic absenteeism, signaling significant barriers to regular attendance.
Funding equity
$11,829
per pupil, district-wide - below Alabama avg of $12,491
Well below the U.S. average per-pupil spend, a notably leaner funding position that may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors0.5 FTE
Student-support staffing from the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Discipline context
0
in-school suspensions + 2 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.0 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 1.1 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.

Overview

  • Common Core of Data (June 2026): enrollment, staffing, and the student-teacher ratio above.
  • Civil Rights Data Collection: discipline counts and program access (AP, gifted, special education).
  • F-33 School District Finance Survey: the district-wide per-pupil spending figures below.

Three separate federal collections, each on its own reporting cadence - which is why this school's numbers line up on a consistent basis against every other school and state on this site, rather than mixing figures pulled from different survey years.

Student demographics

White 69.7%
American Indian / Alaska Native 19.4%
Hispanic or Latino 8.6%
Two or More 1.7%
African American 0.6%

Largest group: White at 69.7% of enrollment.

Student-body diversity index 46.9/100

Simpson diversity index - at 46.9, Ruhuma Junior High School is more mixed than the Alabama school average of 42.5.

Programs

Gifted & talented Yes

Funding & spending

District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Dekalb County, which includes Ruhuma Junior High School.

$11,829
Per student
-5%
vs Alabama
Avg $12,491
-29%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 18.0%
State 61.4%
Federal 20.6%

Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey District-level finance · FY 2021-22 Per-pupil expenditure reflects the district-wide average. Individual school budgets are not reported at the federal level.

How Ruhuma Junior High School Compares to District-Mates

School Enrollment Economic Profile Student-Teacher Ratio
Geraldine School Larger Lower economic need Higher S:T ratio
Plainview School Larger Lower economic need Similar S:T ratio
Fyffe High School Larger Lower economic need Higher S:T ratio
Sylvania School Larger Lower economic need Higher S:T ratio
Collinsville High School Larger Similar economic need Similar S:T ratio

Comparisons are relative to Ruhuma Junior High School's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.

Other Schools in This District

Dekalb County · 5 sibling schools

View district profile

Similar other schools statewide

Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of Alabama, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.

Next steps

Verify locally before acting on Ruhuma Junior High School's federal record.

Federal record (CCD 2024-25, CRDC 2021-22) - PlainSchools assigns no subjective rating; the composite quality score is a transparent, reproducible index computed from this cited federal data.

Frequently asked questions about Ruhuma Junior High School

How many students attend Ruhuma Junior High School?

Ruhuma Junior High School has 175 students enrolled. It is a public school in Ft Payne, AL.

What is the student-teacher ratio at Ruhuma Junior High School?

The student-teacher ratio at Ruhuma Junior High School is 14.6:1, which is 18% lower than the Alabama average of 17.7:1 and 7% lower than the national average of 15.7:1. Lower ratios generally mean more individual attention per student.

What percentage of students receive free lunch at Ruhuma Junior High School?

73.3% of students at Ruhuma Junior High School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Alabama average of 58.8%.

What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Ruhuma Junior High School?

The largest demographic group at Ruhuma Junior High School is White at 69.7% of enrollment, in Ft Payne, AL.

What is the Resource Investment Index for Ruhuma Junior High School?

Ruhuma Junior High School has a Resource Investment Index of 45/100 (typical reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, counselor availability, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).

Is Ruhuma Junior High School a good school?

Ruhuma Junior High School earns 45/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 87% of Alabama schools. It is also one of the smallest schools in Alabama. This is a resource snapshot, not an academic rating; see the Resource Investment Index question above for what the number does and doesn't measure.

What other schools are in Dekalb County?

Besides Ruhuma Junior High School, Dekalb County also operates Geraldine School (1,211 students), Plainview School (1,167 students), and Fyffe High School (954 students). See the Dekalb County district page for the complete list.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) CCD + Public School Universe (2024-25), CRDC (2021-22), F-33 District Finance Survey (FY 2021-22) · 2024-25 Data as of the 2024-25 school year. Coverage from U.S. Department of Education NCES Common Core of Data. Varies by entity type; administrative districts and certain charter networks may report only a subset of fields.

All federal data sources used on this page

Full source list and how we compute each figure: methodology page.

Every figure on PlainSchools is rendered directly from the source NCES, CRDC and F-33 federal records, no number is typed in by an editor. Each school's figures reflect its most recent NCES/CRDC submission on file. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of June 2026.