1 of 4
Photo by Erin Nelson.
Construction crews on May 6 continue work on phase one of the two-story academic wing that is equipped with 42 classrooms and will replace the existing 200 and 300 buildings at Mountain Brook High School. The new addition at the high school is part of the Mountain Brook Schools capital improvements across the six schools.
2 of 4
Photos by Erin Nelson.
Above: Construction crews on May 6 continue work on the business incubator space on the second floor of the two-story academic wing that is equipped with 42 classrooms and will replace the existing 200 and 300 buildings at Mountain Brook High School.
3 of 4
Photo by Erin Nelson.
Construction crews continue work on the new Spartan Commons.
4 of 4
Photo courtesy of Mountain Brook Schools.
Tommy Prewitt, Mountain Brook Schools facilities director, describes some work underway to City Councilor Gerald Garner during an April tour.
Mountain Brook residents and city officials have traditionally taken great pride in their schools.
“For as long as I can remember, Mountain Brook Schools have ranked among the very best schools in Alabama and among the best schools in the country,” Mayor Stewart Welch III said.
The schools are also a big part of the city’s image.
“I think a lot of people identify the school system with the city,” Mountain Brook City Council President Virginia Smith said.
City Councilor Lloyd Shelton said he thinks the identity of the community and the schools have been tied together from the beginning. “The city leaders saw the benefit of being recognized as the best, and that seems to drive us in everything we do,” Shelton said.
That includes ongoing efforts by officials to maintain the best city government and best city services, Shelton said.
“The desire to succeed and be the best seems to be what is the city’s brand and identity,” he said.
However, it became clear several years ago that the school system needed to upgrade its aging facilities.
In October 2020, the Mountain Brook Board of Education issued $75 million in bonds. In May 2021, the system broke ground for its massive program of new construction and upgrades.
“This is the first time we’ve taken on this large of a capital improvement,” said Tommy Prewitt, the school system’s facilities director, told Village Living in July 2021. “It was just time to make some much-needed improvements.”
“The improvements are needed to bring the school systems up to date with the 21st century,” Smith said.
“We have more students and different needs — think technology and security — than we did when the schools were first built,” she said.
The improvements are a massive undertaking by the school district. Welch said he believes this is the largest project in the history of Mountain Brook.
“It was time for a transformation that will provide our teachers with state-of-the-art facilities and tools to help our students continue to excel well into the future,” Welch said.
Cherokee Bend Elementary, Crestline Elementary and Mountain Brook Elementary received upgrades beginning last summer.
Cherokee Bend, Crestline and Mountain Brook Elementary will also have cosmetic work, including painting and flooring, done this summer in select places in each school, according to school system spokesperson William Galloway.
The construction of an additional gymnasium at Crestline is also underway and should be completed by the end of 2022, Galloway said
Mountain Brook High School, Mountain Brook Junior High and Brookwood Forest Elementary are undergoing extensive improvements.
“These renovations have been well overdue,” Superintendent Dickie Barlow said.
Prewitt said school officials are excited about these projects and the progress made so far. And the school improvements will continue, Barlow said.
“Our goal from the beginning was not just to complete our major additions, but to improve the facilities of every school in our system,” he said. “This will be an ongoing project for the next five to 10 years.”
The project’s beginning came in 2018, when the school system hired an architecture firm to audit its six schools, all of which are at least 50 years old. The audit revealed the district needed to make significant capital improvements.
A community task force — along with the Mountain Brook Board of Education and City Council — determined that the city needed an ad valorem tax increase to help finance the improvements.
Residents voted in September 2019 for a 10-mill tax increase that was projected to generate an additional $6 million in annual revenue for the school system.
“The board recognizes that now is the time to take advantage of historic low interest rates as we enter into the bond market,” Barlow said at the time.
One sign of progress came on April 25 when officials celebrated the partial completion of the first phase of improvements at Brookwood Forest Elementary.
Phase one is an addition to the school measuring 13,862 square feet. It includes a new lunchroom and spacious administrative offices for school staff.
Phase two will involve the demolition and renovation of the old cafeteria and kitchen area into four classrooms, as well as the demolition and renovation of the larger round building, which includes four new restrooms, a teacher workroom and new special education suites.
Work at Mountain Brook High School is also coming in two phases.
Phase one renovations at the high school include a new two-story academic wing with 42 classrooms that will replace the existing 200 and 300 buildings. Phase two will include a new guidance counseling suite and renovated band room and dance studios.
The Phase one work at Brookwood Forest and the high school have remained on schedule and should be completed by the start of the new school year, Prewitt said.
Mountain Brook Junior High School is getting a new three-story main entrance building with 18 classrooms, along with a renovated and expanded cafeteria, renovated locker rooms and a new pitched roof and turret over the media center.
The interior renovations at the junior high will be completed by the start of the new school year, Prewitt said.
“The new three-story building at MBJH will be completed in the fall, however, not by the start of school,” he said.
In mid-April, Barlow and Prewitt led a tour of the work underway at the high school, junior high, Crestline Elementary, Mountain Brook Elementary and Brookwood Forest.
Board of Education members who attended were Nicky Barnes, Jeffrey Brewer, Jenifer Kimbrough, Brad Sklar and Anna Comer.
Other city officials on the tour included City Manager Sam Gaston and Assistant City Manager Steven Boone, as well as Smith and City Council members Gerald Garner, Alice Womack and Billy Pritchard.
“We’re excited about the opportunity of showing everybody in the community the facility improvements that will in turn improve student learning,” Barlow said.
The city council members said they were impressed by what they saw.
Womack said she was impressed by the progress of the renovations and also “really impressed” with Prewitt and “his juggling of all the improvements.
“It was interesting to see at Brookwood Forest how the existing framework was used to capitalize on the space for classrooms,” Womack said. “The glass windows off the back of the high school overlooking the ballfields along with the large seating area within the mall are really going to be spectacular. … I cannot wait to see the final product at all of the schools.”
Garner said that he enjoyed the tour and that the upgrades are important to the city’s future.
“I was very impressed with the changes and upgrades our schools are undergoing,” he said. “I firmly believe the economic growth and long-term prosperity of a city is directly related to the quality of the city's schools.”
Shelton also sees a long-term economic benefit to the city.
A “wide range of people” have told Shelton that they moved to Mountain Brook because of the quality of the schools, he said.
“When you see the value of real estate staying strong and the number of people still interested in moving to the city, it would be hard to argue that the quality of the schools does not have a positive long-term economic impact,” he said.
The quality of the schools is “a major driver” for property values in the city, said Pritchard, who serves as the council’s liaison to the Board of Education.
“I think it’s the school system that really propels valuations in Mountain Brook to higher than they would be otherwise,” Pritchard said.
Welch said nationally ranked schools have been the primary driver of the city’s economic success. The schools also help build the community’s long-term stability, Smith said.
“Many people continue to live in the city even when children are no longer part of the school system,” she said. “One provides stability for the other, and vice versa.”
Garner said he is excited for the city's future because the schools will not only be able to offer the absolute best education, but they can offer that education in newly constructed, first-class facilities.
