Enrollment
600
Alabama · 2024-25 NCES data
Other / mixed grade configuration · Sweet Water, AL
Sweet Water High School
Federal NCES profile for Sweet Water High School, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 40/100.
2024-25 NCES dataOther / mixed grade configurationNCES 010225000857
👥 S:T ratio 37
🌟 Gifted program 70
🎓 Counselors 0
📋 Attendance 54
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →
The verdict
Sweet Water High School earns 40/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 75% of Alabama schools.
- 40
- Resource Index · Typical
- 15.8:1
- small classes for Alabama
- 49.7%
- free-lunch eligible
- 600
- students enrolled
Sweet Water High School has class sizes smaller than 75% of Alabama schools. Computed live against every Alabama school reporting to NCES.
School address
District: Marengo County · Alabama
NCES ID 010225000857 Verify on NCES CCD record →
Teachers (FTE)
38.0
Federal CCD staff survey
Students per teacher
15.8:1
vs 17.7:1 Alabama avg
-11% vs state
Free-lunch eligible
49.7%
vs 58.8% Alabama avg
-15% vs state
Student-teacher ratio in context
How Sweet Water High School compares with Alabama and U.S. medians
What stands out at Sweet Water High School
Sweet Water High School is a mid-sized combined-grade school in Sweet Water, Alabama, enrolling 600 students.
Class sizes run a bit leaner than typical: 15.8:1 puts it in the smaller third of Alabama schools by student-teacher ratio.
Economic need runs somewhat below the state's typical profile, with 49.7% of students eligible for free meals.
Enrollment of 600 puts it in the larger third of Alabama schools by headcount.
Its Resource Investment Index sits near the middle of the pack among 1,365 scored Alabama schools.
Against 446 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks in the upper tier at #179.
Its student body is led by White (60%) and African American (35%) (diversity index 51/100).
Counselor access is stretched at roughly 600 students per counselor, well above the ASCA-recommended 250:1 ceiling.
Attendance runs somewhat below the norm, with 18.5% of students chronically absent per the 2021-22 civil-rights collection.
Its district draws 23.2% of revenue from federal sources, an above-typical federal share that tends to track a higher-need student population.
Marengo County also operates Marengo High School (223 students) and Amelia L Johnson High School (142 students) alongside Sweet Water 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 Sweet Water High School compares
Sweet Water 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 | 15.8:1 | ▼ 11% | 17.7:1 | 15.7:1 |
| Free-lunch eligible | 49.7% | ▼ 15% | 58.8% | 51.7% |
| Enrollment | 600 | top 30% | - | - |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25
15.8:1
Leaner classes than 40% of US schools, a middle-of-the-pack class size.
600
Bigger than 73% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.
Equity indicators (what these measure)
Economic need
49.7%
free-lunch eligible
- 15% below the Alabama average of 58.8%
Above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold; federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
Staffing depth
15.8:1
students per teacher
- 11% below state mean
Top 25% in Alabama - lower ratio than 75% of state schools
Close to the 15:1 benchmark most often cited for individualized attention.
Engagement
18.5%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
In the 15-20% range, nearing the "high" absenteeism threshold.
Funding equity
$14,299
per pupil, district-wide
- above Alabama avg of $12,491
Somewhat below the U.S. average per-pupil spend; funding constraints may affect programs, facilities, and staffing.
Support staff
Counselors1.0 FTE
Per 600 students, the combined health-and-guidance staffing load for this school.
Discipline context
36
in-school suspensions + 7 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 6.0 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 7.2 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 60.3%
African American 35.3%
Two or More 2.3%
Hispanic or Latino 1.8%
Asian 0.2%
Largest group: White at 60.3% of enrollment.
Student-body diversity index 51.1/100
Simpson diversity index - at 51.1, Sweet Water High School is more mixed than the Alabama school average of 42.5.
Programs
AP courses offered 1
Gifted & talented Yes
Funding & spending
District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Marengo County, which includes Sweet Water High School.
$14,299
Per student
+14%
vs Alabama
Avg $12,491
-14%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 25.4%
State 51.4%
Federal 23.2%
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 Sweet Water High School Compares to District-Mates
| School | Enrollment | Economic Profile | Student-Teacher Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marengo High School | Smaller | Higher economic need | Lower S:T ratio |
| Amelia L Johnson High School | Smaller | Higher economic need | Lower S:T ratio |
Comparisons are relative to Sweet Water High School's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.
Other Schools in This District
- Enrollment
- 223
- Students per teacher
- 12.4:1
- Resource Index
- 65/100
- Enrollment
- 142
- Students per teacher
- 8.9:1
- Resource Index
- 40/100
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.
Similar enrollment (~600 students)
Similar student-teacher ratio (~15.8:1)
Next steps
Verify locally before acting on Sweet Water High School's federal record.
- Compare Sweet Water High School against another school. Compare schools
- Marengo County's spending and staffing shape this school. District profile
- Confirm current enrollment and boundaries with the school. Choosing guide
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 Sweet Water High School
How many students attend Sweet Water High School?
Sweet Water High School has 600 students enrolled. It is a public school in Sweet Water, AL.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Sweet Water High School?
The student-teacher ratio at Sweet Water High School is 15.8:1, which is 11% lower than the Alabama average of 17.7:1 and 1% higher 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 Sweet Water High School?
49.7% of students at Sweet Water High School are eligible for free lunch, compared to the Alabama average of 58.8%.
What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Sweet Water High School?
The largest demographic group at Sweet Water High School is White at 60.3% of enrollment, in Sweet Water, AL. Its student body is more racially and ethnically mixed than most US schools, with a diversity index of 51.1/100.
What is the Resource Investment Index for Sweet Water High School?
Sweet Water High School has a Resource Investment Index of 40/100 (typical reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 4 factors: student-teacher ratio, AP course offerings, counselor availability, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).
Is Sweet Water High School a good school?
Sweet Water High School earns 40/100 on the Resource Investment Index, with class sizes smaller than 75% of Alabama schools. 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 Marengo County?
Besides Sweet Water High School, Marengo County also operates Marengo High School (223 students) and Amelia L Johnson High School (142 students). See the Marengo County district page for the complete list.
Related tools
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.