Photo by Erin Nelson Sweeney
Annabelle Larisey and Charlie Aaron work through decimal subtraction problems in Emily Graham’s fifth grade math class at Vestavia Hills Elementary Dolly Ridge on Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023.
The Vestavia Hills school system for the second year in a row scored a 97 on its report card from the Alabama Department of Education, which is the second highest score among any district in the state.
Mountain Brook City Schools earned a 98, and Piedmont City Schools was the only other district to score a 97. There were 35 school districts that earned an A for 2024, up from 28 last year.
Two Vestavia Hills schools — Vestavia Hills Elementary Dolly Ridge and Vestavia Hills Elementary East — earned a 100 score for 2024, both up from 99 last year. There were only 11 schools across the state that earned a 100, according to an analysis by Alabama Daily News.
Here’s how each Vestavia Hills school did in 2023 and 2024:
As you can see, five Vestavia Hills schools increased their scores from 2023. The only school to see its score decline was Vestavia Hills Elementary Liberty Park, which went from a 100 to a 97. The lowest score was a 95 at Vestavia Hills High School.
The overall score takes into account a variety of things, including academic achievement, academic growth, graduation rates, attendance and college and career readiness.
The district as a whole received a 97.9 on its academic achievement score, up from 96.4 in 2023. All demographic groups saw their academic achievement scores rise, except Asian students, who already had a score of 100, and students with limited English proficiency, whose academic achievement score dropped from 63.6 to 56.4.
All demographic groups received a 100 score on academic growth for 2024.
The graduation rate rose from 96.2% to 99%. Among demographic groups, the graduation rate was 100% for Asian and Black students, 99% for white students, 96.3% for students with disabilities and 95.2% for economically disadvantaged students.
The percentage of Vestavia Hills students leaving high school who were deemed ready for college or a career rose from 92.1% to 94.8%. Among demographic groups, the college and career readiness rate was 100% for Asians, 96% for whites, 87.3% for economically disadvantaged students, 70.1% for students with disabilities and 69.2% for Blacks.
The number of students in the Vestavia Hills school system declined by 128 from 6,996 in the fall of 2022 to 6,868 in the fall of 2023 and rose by 13 to 6,881 this past fall, state records show.
Demographicially, the district is 82% white, 6.2% Asian, 4.7% Black and 2.8% of two or more races. About 4% of students are of Hispanic or Latino heritage, and about 10% of students come from low-income families that qualify for free or reduced-price meals, state records show.
Two percent of students have limited English proficiency, and less than 1% are first-year English language learners, while 12% have disabilities, records show.
Here's a link to the full state report card for Vestavia Hills City Schools.
And here are links to the report cards for each school in the system:
