Madison County - EdTribune AL - Alabama Education Data

Kevin Daniel Leads Riverton Intermediate After Four Straight Years of Growth

Mon, 05 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMT

Kevin Daniel did not arrive at Riverton Intermediate School as a stranger. He grew up around the community it serves. Daniel became principal of the Madison County^↗ school on July 1, and he takes over a building that has been getting bigger: Riverton Intermediate counted 921 students in 2025-26, the most recent school year in the state's published data, and its highest total in state records going back to 2014-15.

"The biggest draw for me in coming to Riverton Intermediate was simply the community, our students, families, and the staff here at RIS," Daniel wrote in answer to questions from The ALEdTribune. "I grew up around this community, competing alongside and against its students in academics and athletics, so I already knew the values that define it."

Daniel confirmed his start date in writing in July. Alabama's state school directory previously listed April McCutcheon as the school's principal.

A Madison County career

Daniel's path to the principal's office runs almost entirely through Madison County Schools. According to his biography on the school's website, he is a graduate of the district who finished at Hazel Green High School, then earned a bachelor's degree from the University of North Alabama and a master's degree in educational leadership from Arizona State University. He has worked at New Hope High School, Meridianville Middle School and Monrovia Middle School, and most recently served as assistant principal at Madison County Elementary School.

That history is why he describes the job as a return to people he already understood. "This is a community that values hard work and integrity and is deeply committed to providing the very best for its children," he wrote.

He was just as direct about the staff he inherited. "I was equally drawn to the remarkable work of the staff at RIS," Daniel wrote. "The success they have built over the past several years is a testament to their ability, dedication, and unwavering focus on student learning."

A school that keeps adding students

The enrollment record gives that description some weight. Riverton Intermediate serves fourth, fifth and sixth graders, and its count has risen in each of the last four years, from 782 in 2021-22 to 921 in 2025-26. The two most recent years did most of the work: the school went from 825 students in 2023-24 to 871 in 2024-25, then added another 50. That is 96 more students in two years, an 11.6% increase. In 2014-15, the school counted 748.

Size is part of what makes the job distinctive. Riverton Intermediate was the sixth-largest of Madison County's 28 schools in 2025-26; only three high schools and two middle schools enrolled more. Riverton Elementary School counted 603 students. Madison County as a whole enrolled 19,991 students that year.

The school has also been taking a slightly larger slice of the county's students in its grades. In 2025-26, Riverton enrolled 19.6% of all Madison County fourth, fifth and sixth graders, up from 17.7% in 2014-15.

The state's data shows where the students are but not why they came. Nothing in the enrollment file separates new housing, attendance-zone changes, or families moving within the county, so the growth is a fact about the building rather than an explanation of it. Current-year counts will also differ once the state publishes 2026-27 data.

Daniel's first-year plan is not built around changing course. "In my first year, my focus is not on changing what has made RIS successful, but on protecting and strengthening the pillars already in place," he wrote. "I want to honor the work that brought us here while finding thoughtful ways to build upon that foundation and continue moving our school forward."

"Clear is kind"

Asked what he wants families and staff to understand about his approach, Daniel went straight to communication. "My main message to our families and staff centers on clarity," he wrote. "I believe that clear is kind. When we are willing to communicate clearly it demonstrates how deeply we care about the people involved and the work we are doing together."

He did not frame clarity as a way to avoid disagreement. "We may not always agree on every issue, but when we communicate clearly, honestly, and factually, we give ourselves the best possible opportunity to move forward together in a positive and productive direction," he wrote.

Three grades, three jobs

An intermediate school has students for only three years, and at a school this size it is fair to ask how any one child avoids getting lost in the middle. Daniel's answer is that each grade has a different assignment. "Our approach to preparing students for middle school is intentionally developmental," he wrote.

"In fourth grade, our focus is on belonging and identity," Daniel wrote. "We want students to understand what it means to be part of the Wolf Pack and to begin developing their own story within our school community." Fifth grade shifts the weight toward the student. "In fifth grade, we raise expectations for both academics and self-advocacy," he wrote. "Students are encouraged to take greater ownership of their learning, communicate what they need, and begin developing the leadership skills they will need as our oldest students."

Sixth grade is where the plan points outward. "By sixth grade, we are preparing students for the transition ahead," he wrote. "We identify student ambassadors who serve our school in a variety of ways and provide our sixth graders with meaningful opportunities to lead. We view this final year at RIS as a dress rehearsal for middle school, with increased expectations for academic responsibility, behavior, independence, and leadership."

That final year is also the school's biggest. Riverton counted 327 sixth graders in 2025-26, compared with 298 fifth graders and 296 fourth graders, and it was the largest sixth-grade count in the state's records for the school. The same grade grew as it moved through the building: Riverton had 297 fourth graders in 2023-24 and 327 sixth graders two years later, a gain of 30. Grade counts are not the same children tracked over time, since they net out students who arrive, leave or repeat a grade. But the pattern is not new. In 8 of the 10 two-year stretches the state's records allow, from 2014-15 onward, Riverton's sixth grade ended up larger than the fourth grade it started as, and the most recent stretch showed the biggest gain.

Daniel described the goal in terms of who students become, not just what grade comes next. "The goal is that our students do not simply leave RIS ready for seventh grade," he wrote. "We want them to leave knowing who they are, how to advocate for themselves, how to lead others, and how to meet the expectations of the next chapter in their education."

For a principal who says his first job is protecting what already works, the enrollment line sets the test. The building he inherited has grown four years running, and its sixth grade is now the largest it has been in state records. Whether the belonging-first approach in fourth grade and the ambassador roles in sixth can hold at that scale is the question his first year will begin to answer.

Enrollment counts come from the Alabama State Department of Education. Years refer to the school year ending in the spring; 2025-26 is the most recent year the state has published. Riverton Intermediate reports no prekindergarten students in any year, so its totals are comparable across the full 2014-15 to 2025-26 window. Madison County's share comparison uses the county's published grade 4, 5 and 6 counts.

Detailed code that reproduces the analysis and figures in this article is available exclusively to EdTribune subscribers.

Montgomery County Cut Chronic Absence in 2024-25 but Remained Above 25%

Mon, 14 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT

Correction: An earlier draft described the observed reporting span as the last four school years. This version names the years and treats 2024-25 as the most recent published data.

Montgomery County's chronic absenteeism rate fell 3.25 percentage points in 2024-25. Its 25.29% rate remained the highest among Alabama districts enrolling more than 10,000 students, and it has been above 25% in each of the four reporting years from 2021-22 through 2024-25.

The district's rate stood at 25.29% in 2024-25, more than double the statewide 12.05%. That is down from 28.54% the year before, an improvement of 3.25 percentage points that slightly outpaced the state's 2.79-point improvement over the same year. Across those four reporting years, the endpoint changed by 0.53 points, while the annual rates varied: 25.82% in 2021-22, 26.33% in 2022-23, 28.54% in 2023-24, and 25.29% in 2024-25, a net change of about half a percentage point.

Elsewhere the change has been much larger. Mobile County^↗ went from 30.93% to 12.81%, a drop of 18.1 points. Birmingham City^↗ fell 15.9 points, to 13.16%. Huntsville City^↗ is now at 8.23%, below the 11.41% it recorded in 2018-19.

The widening gap

Before the pandemic, Montgomery County^↗'s attendance figures were close to the statewide picture. Its 2018-19 rate of 11.95% sat 0.78 points above the state's 11.17%.

Chronic absenteeism rose sharply across Alabama in 2021-22. Montgomery's rate reached 25.82%, but so did Mobile's (30.93%) and Birmingham's (29.09%). The difference is what came next.

The gap between Montgomery and the state has widened from 0.78 points in 2018-19 to 13.24 points in 2024-25. Montgomery's rate is now more than twice the statewide figure, a disparity that did not exist before the pandemic.

This comparison begins in 2018-19. Alabama does not publish a 2019-20 figure in the data used here, and the panel resumes with 2020-21.

Among large districts

Fourteen Alabama districts enrolled more than 10,000 students in 2024-25. Montgomery has the highest chronic absenteeism rate of the fourteen, at 25.29%, more than 8 points clear of the next highest, Jefferson County^↗ at 16.97%.

Montgomery is also furthest from its own pre-pandemic level. It sits 13.34 points above its 2018-19 rate. The next largest such gap belongs to Jefferson County, at 6.50 points, and nine of the fourteen remain above where they were in 2018-19.

Nine of the fourteen large districts remained above their own 2018-19 rates in 2024-25, so recovery was uneven across the comparison group.

Those comparisons start from very different places. Shelby County^↗'s 0.54-point decline began at 11.59%, near the state average at the time. Madison County^↗ rose from 9.70% to 14.35%, which is still nearly 11 points below Montgomery's level. Montgomery began the span at 25.82%.

Inside the numbers

Within Montgomery, chronic absenteeism varies widely from one student group to another.

Students who are economically disadvantaged and students who receive special education services share the highest rate, both at 29.0%. Black students are at 28.2%. Nine of the ten student groups the state reports separately for Montgomery sit above the statewide all-student rate of 12.05%, including white students at 13.1% and English learners at 17.4%. The exception is Asian students, at 3.5%, who are below both the state's all-student rate and the state's rate for Asian students of 3.9%.

The published rates are elevated across several student groups. These outcome data do not establish a cause.

Thirteen percentage points above pre-pandemic

Montgomery County sits 13.34 percentage points above its 2018-19 rate of 11.95%. Statewide, the corresponding figure is 0.88 points.

The state improved by 2.79 points from 2023-24 to 2024-25. Montgomery improved by 3.25 points during that interval, but its published rate remained 13.34 points above its 2018-19 level.

Chronic-absence rates come from the Alabama State Department of Education’s Federal Report Card.

Detailed code that reproduces the analysis and figures in this article is available exclusively to EdTribune subscribers.