Photo by Erin Nelson.
Students change classes as they walk through the new Spartan Commons at Mountain Brook High School.
Mountain Brook High School was recently ranked in the top 200 academic high schools in America, which equates to the top 1% of schools throughout the United States.
In the 2022 U.S. News & World Report of best high school rankings, Mountain Brook Schools came in at No. 27 among public schools with open enrollment, meaning the school accepts any student who is a resident in the city. The other 173 schools on the top 200 list have certain academic standards that must be met before a student can enroll.
Mountain Brook Schools Superintendent Dicky Barlow said the rankings include magnet and charter schools. Mountain Brook students do not have to meet certain requirements before they are allowed admission.
“We are a public school and are proud and have an attitude of gratefulness for the community and our teachers and the hard work they put in that shows a lot of different ways,” Barlow said.
The study ranks schools based on their performance on state-required tests, graduation and how well they prepare students for college. In the report, MBHS received an overall score of 98.88 out of 100, coming in third in the state and first in the Birmingham metro area. It was also ranked No. 71 in STEM high schools.
The rankings also showed that Mountain Brook students have the opportunity to take advanced placement coursework and exams and the AP participation rate is 68%.
Throughout its 62-year history, Mountain Brook has consistently been ranked in the top 1% of all schools in America, according to an Aug. 5 press release from Mountain Brook Schools.
“Although we are very proud of these rankings and recognitions, our real purpose is to provide an effective, challenging and engaging education for every one of our students,” the statement read. “These rankings and recognitions are merely a result of how we do what we do.”
MBHS offers 28 Advanced Placement classes and the school has thrived in business classes, fine arts and its nationally recognized debate program.
Other schools in the metro area that made the list include Vestavia (No. 4), Homewood (No. 5), Spain Park (No. 8), Oak Mountain (No. 9), Hoover (No. 21) and Chelsea (No. 44).
The importance of working together
Mountain Brook City Council member Billy Pritchard, who serves as the council’s liaison to the school system, said he was thrilled that the school system received such a well-deserved recognition and that it is due to the “outstanding leadership and service by the Board of Education, its superintendent, school administrators and teachers over a number of years.”
Philip Holley is in his fifth year as principal and said this honor is indicative of the importance placed on academics and the high expectations at the school.
Holley said that success comes from many things, including the faculty, who give 110% to their students and their profession; the students, who understand the importance of education and the high expectations; and the parents and community who provide incredible support.
“When you have teachers, students, and the community all on the same page about the importance of education, great things happen. I feel that this is seen in the high ranking that our school has,” Holley said.
Pritchard echoed those sentiments, adding that it is critical to maintain the strong and healthy partnership that has served the community well for decades.
“We support and work together with each other whenever needed,” Pritchard said.
Welch said it shows how well the schools perform under the current leadership at the city council, Board of Education and school administration levels.
“A whole chain goes into making this happen,” Welch said. “We’ve been ranked well for a really long time. … Our schools have forever been committed to academic excellence, and teachers deserve credit along with the parents who are highly involved.”
Barlow said there are many people to recognize for this ranking, starting with the students who “put in the work” and their families.
“The parents want the best for their children and that parent and community involvement is essential to having great schools,” Barlow said.
Holley said that one of the things he loves about the community is the great relationship between the city, school board and the schools.
“I think this is so important in order to have the success that we have had at Mountain Brook High School,” Holley said. “They have always been incredibly supportive of what we are trying to do each day.”
As for teachers, Barlow said Mountain Brook Schools hire really good teachers and make them great. They’ve also been recognized for their professional development program, where teachers are encouraged to grow and be their best.
“The bottom line is, we want all of our students when they come to school to feel like this is their home and they are comfortable and in a position where they can engage in learning to the best of their ability,” Barlow said.
Welch gave credit to the pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and junior highs that feed into the high school.
“You can’t talk about a great high school without talking about great junior high and elementary schools,” he said. “A lot of students start here in pre-K and go all the way through. We love to hear back from our students when they go to college and how well prepared they are.”
Coming out of the pandemic, Barlow said the goal was to do the best they could under the circumstances. A writing lab was created to help students with their writing, along with a math lab where students can receive tutoring and extended services for math.
“We’ve added things in our high school program to help our students, not just because of the pandemic, but they're under a lot of stress and have high expectations, so we want to help them in any way we can,” he said.
