U.S. News and World Report has released its list of best elementary and middle schools for 2026 with the highest-ranking school in Baldwin County being Fairhope Middle School, ranked as third best …
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U.S. News and World Report has released its list of best elementary and middle schools for 2026 with the highest-ranking school in Baldwin County being Fairhope Middle School, ranked as third best school in Alabama.
Fairhope Middle increased its ranking by three places as it ranked sixth in 2025. Principal Angie Hall did not respond for comment before press time.
According to a press release on the report, the 2026 rankings this year are based on publicly available data from the U.S. Department of Education. The methodology for the rankings is based on state assessments of students who were proficient or above proficient in mathematics and reading/language arts, while accounting for student background and achievement in core subjects. Student-teacher ratios are applied to break ties in the overall score.
The next highest-ranking middle schools for 2026 were Elberta Middle School, which ranked 26, and W J Carroll Intermediate School, which ranked 35. Elberta saw a rank increase of 22 places from last year while W J Carroll Intermediate had no change in rank from last year.
The middle schools with the greatest increases in ranks were Foley Middle School, which increased by 32 places from 298 to 266, Gulf Shores Middle School, which went from 110 to 86 in an increase of 24 places, and Summerdale School and Central Baldwin Middle School both saw an increase of 23 places, rising from 168 to 145 and 178 to 155, respectively.
The middle school with the biggest decrease in rank was Daphne Middle School, which went from 137 to 157 with a decrease of 20 places.
For elementary schools in Baldwin County, Fairhope West Elementary scored the highest with a 49 ranking, a seven-place decrease from last year's 42.
The next highest elementary schools were Fairhope East Elementary and Rockwell Elementary School. Fairhope East ranked 114 this year and had a 53-place decrease from last year's 61. Rockwell ranked 119, a 22-place decrease from 97 last year.
The elementary schools that showed the greatest increase in ranks were Robertsdale Elementary School, Elsanor Elementary School and Stapleton School. Robertsdale increased by 64 places, ranking 326 this year compared to last year's 390. Elsanor increased rank by 59 places, ranking 351 this year and 410 last year. Stapleton ranked 173 this year and 195 last year, having a 22-place increase.
The elementary schools with the biggest decrease in ranks were Summerdale School, which decreased by 169 places going from 198 to 367, Swift Elementary, which decreased by 122 ranking 380 this year and 258 last year, and Daphne Elementary, which ranked 336 this year and 270 last year for a 66-place decrease.
For more information on the best schools reported by U.S. News, visit https://www.usnews.com/education/k12?src=usn_pr.
Fairhope West Elementary — 2026 ranking: 49; 2025 ranking 42; change -7
Fairhope East Elementary — 2026 ranking: 114; 2025 ranking: 61; change -53
Rockwell Elementary — 2026 ranking: 119; 2025 ranking 97; change -22
Fairhope Middle — 2026 ranking: 3; 2025 ranking: 6; change +3
Elberta Middle — 2026 ranking: 26; 2025 ranking: 48; change +22
W J Carroll Intermediate School — 2026 ranking: 35; 2025 ranking: 35; change: 0
Gulf Shores Middle — 2026 ranking: 86; 2025 ranking: 110; change +24
Perdido Elementary — 2026 ranking: 101; 2025 ranking: 85; change: -16
