Education

Public, Private, Vocational & Collegiate
From pre-school to doctoral degrees, Dothan's educational sector covers most business and societal needs to improve and provide a wide variety of educational opportunities. Local efforts to support education through personal and financial commitments have helped to make Dothan and Houston County excellent school systems. There are several superb elementary and secondary schools with religious and college-preparatory curricula, if you prefer a private system.

Dothan area residents are extremely concerned with providing our children with the best education attainable. As a result, the school systems adopted a Career Quest/Technical Preparation program. It emphasizes advanced communications, mathematical, scientific, technological knowledge and skill development to graduate well-trained and educated employees and employers. Industrial/Engineering, Health/Human Services, Business/Information Systems and Arts/Humanities make up the four program clusters and lead to college or training for immediate employment in the workforce. The programs have since become a national model.

High school graduates may attend Wallace Community College, a two-year associate degree institution, or Troy University Dothan, a four-year university that offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in many disciplines. Vocational education is available in the Dothan area as well. Facilities and programs at the Dothan Technology Center, Houston County Career and Technical Center and Wallace Community College provide for development of skills needed to pursue many different jobs.

Medical School
In the early 1990s, leaders in Alabama identified the need for more primary care physicians in the state, and in 2005, after years of coordinating activities to accomplish this goal, formed the Alabama Medical Education Consortium.

After careful research and examination, the AMEC and the Houston County Health Care Authority, the operator of Southeast Health, determined that it would be feasible for the state to develop its own college of osteopathic medicine to address the shortage of primary care physicians in the state. In May 2010, the Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine, a nonprofit, private institution, was established.

ACOM received its Private School licensure from the Alabama Department of Postsecondary Education in 2011, and provisional accreditation with the ability to recruit students from the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation on July 1, 2012.

The Dothan area welcomed ACOM to its extensive list of educational opportunities when the school opened its doors and welcomed its first class of students in August 2013. (Source: www.acom.edu).

Public Schools
Dothan
There is one First Class Pre-K school, two primary K-2 schools, six K-6 schools, three intermediate 3-6 schools, one 7-9 school, one 10-12 school, one technology center, one community college (Wallace Community College) and one regional university (Troy University) in Dothan. For more information, visit www.dothan.k12.al.us.

Houston County
There are two K-12 schools, two K-5 schools, one K-6 school, one 6-8 school, one 6-12 school, two 7-12 schools, one 9-12 school and a career academy in Houston County. For more information, visit www.hcboe.us.

Private Schools
There are 12 private and/or parochial schools in Dothan and Houston County combined.

School Enrollment
Children may be enrolled in the public-school system by contacting the Dothan City Board of Education, 1665 Honeysuckle Road, Dothan, AL 36305 (334) 793-1397 or the Houston County Board of Education, 404 W. Washington St., Dothan, AL 36301 (334) 792-8331.