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Old 04-04-2009, 05:25 PM
 
Location: Skokie, IL
33 posts, read 81,062 times
Reputation: 20

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Hello,

I'm moving to Alabama. DH has a job in Hoover now, and I'm trying to find best high school.

I am eyeballing the three schools listed in the subject line, but I'm open to any opinions, experiences, and such. I am a NC/SC REALTOR right now, and I will probably get my license there, too.

So....

1. Which schools are best for transferred students?

2. Who has the best soccer program?

3. What is your best memory?

4. What is the worst experience?

5. Auburn or UAB (for my incoming poly-sci college freshman who is heartbroken not to be going to USC-Columbia)?

YOUR OPINIONS AND COMMENTS ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!!
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Old 04-04-2009, 09:20 PM
 
Location: In the Greater Birmingham area
350 posts, read 1,307,186 times
Reputation: 135
Here are somce good school websites

www.SouthUniversity.edu

ALSDE - Education Directory/Reports (http://www.alsde.edu/html/reports_menu.asp - broken link)

GreatSchools - Public and Private School Ratings, Reviews and Parent Community

Alabama Public School Rankings

SCBOE Administration Directory

SchoolMatters - Home (http://www.schoolmatters.com/ - broken link)
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Old 04-05-2009, 03:45 PM
 
28,896 posts, read 53,939,958 times
Reputation: 46662
Pelham isn't bad, mind you. However, I think Spain Park, Hoover, and Oak Mountain are better.
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Old 04-05-2009, 04:06 PM
 
Location: Skokie, IL
33 posts, read 81,062 times
Reputation: 20
Default I know how the schools look "on paper"....

I am a Realtor and I use greatschools.net (very, very useful) as a reference tool for the basics. However, I enjoy direct opinions of parents, current/former students, etc.

Does anyone have first-hand experience with any of the schools mentioned? (Back Again, I know you have to tread lightly since you are also in real estate.)
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Old 04-05-2009, 10:17 PM
 
160 posts, read 288,343 times
Reputation: 192
I moved to Birmingham from NY 15 years ago, and have been an avid soccer player/coach/fan/sports medicine professional since the age of 7. I currently have 3 children, ages 5, 8 and 10, so I can relate to many of your questions.

As for the 3 schools, Spain Park HS recently won a National Blue Ribbon Award, and is a much better district than Pelham (we recently moved from Pelham). If possible, look into the Greystone area, as Greystone Elementary has been fantastic. Oak Mountain school district is also very good, but probably a very small notch below Spain Park (from what I am told).

As for soccer, Oak Mountain has been a dominant force for scholastic soccer, especially for boys. If it is club soccer you are interested in, the 2 top clubs are Birmingham United Soccer Association (BUSA), which is the largest in the state and has 2 national academy boys teams, and Vestavia SC. In terms of competitiveness, they are on par with each other, and as expected, each have dominant teams. If your children will be attending Spain Park or Oak Mountain, then BUSA would be geographically closer in most instances, but there is not much difference overall.

I would highly recommend Greystone Elementary and Spain Park HS.
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Old 04-06-2009, 09:04 AM
 
Location: Skokie, IL
33 posts, read 81,062 times
Reputation: 20
Smile Thanks, soccerphysio!

I sooo appreciate your opinion.

I have been to Greystone -- beautiful area, but I am concerned about 280 traffic and my hubby's commute time to Hoover (Riverchase Pkwy).

What was your specific reason for leaving Pelham, if you don't mind sharing? My husband has been exploring that area a little bit. I don't want to be out in the "boonies" and I definitely don't want to be in a lackluster school district (the one we're in now is one of the best in South Carolina), and I definitely am not on board with private schools -- rather invest the $$$ in college.

As a "transplant" yourself, what has been your general experience over the years? If given the option to move to the area again, would you? Are you content with staying there indefinitely?

Thank you for your input -- I truly appreciate it.
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Old 04-06-2009, 10:13 AM
 
28,896 posts, read 53,939,958 times
Reputation: 46662
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bammy-Bound View Post
I sooo appreciate your opinion.

I have been to Greystone -- beautiful area, but I am concerned about 280 traffic and my hubby's commute time to Hoover (Riverchase Pkwy).

What was your specific reason for leaving Pelham, if you don't mind sharing? My husband has been exploring that area a little bit. I don't want to be out in the "boonies" and I definitely don't want to be in a lackluster school district (the one we're in now is one of the best in South Carolina), and I definitely am not on board with private schools -- rather invest the $$$ in college.

As a "transplant" yourself, what has been your general experience over the years? If given the option to move to the area again, would you? Are you content with staying there indefinitely?

Thank you for your input -- I truly appreciate it.
Really, the commute to Riverchase Parkway wouldn't be that bad from Greystone, for he wouldn't be slogging down 280. Instead, he would drive down 119, cut over to Valleydale Road via Altadena Road (With the added bonus of passing Oak Mountain High on the way, plus Spain Park is also an easy reach), and he has a relatively easy commute to Riverchase Parkway.

But if he drove downtown, I'd say forget Greystone. I have much better things to do with my car than spend two hours daily in stop-and-go traffic.
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Old 04-06-2009, 12:49 PM
 
24 posts, read 98,249 times
Reputation: 15
Academically, in Birmingham Metro:

Mountain Brook>Vestavia Hills >=Oak Mountain > Spain Park >= Hoover > Pehlem
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Old 04-06-2009, 03:32 PM
 
Location: Albuquerque, NM
1,566 posts, read 3,267,452 times
Reputation: 3160
Keep in mind here that you're talking about two different school systems here. Hoover and Spain Park are the two high schools in the Hoover City school system. Pelham and Oak Mountain are two (albeit the largest, along with Thompson in Alabaster) of many high schools in the Shelby County School system. Hoover is a different animal from Shelby County.

Hoover is suburban city and has growing pains every 5 years or so when the districting lines get redrawn to account for all the new growth. This is usually the biggest deal at the elementary levels because a slight shift in the line can make a big difference. Hoover is big, the schools are big and provide a lot of opportunities, and the attitudes are big. Although it is ostensibly a suburb of Birmingham, Hoover is the 6th largest city in the state. There is often drama between the city council, the school board and the school administration. "Old" Hoover (smaller homes, apartments) vs. "New" Hoover (recent developments). Look into this history and look at the current zoning lines before you decide on a house.

Shelby County has a split personality. There is "North Shelby", where residents of "North Shelby" are careful to say they reside, to distinguish themselves from the rest of Shelby County. Then there is the rest of the county, which is more rural, more rooted, more old-school. Pelham and Thompson are the older northern Shelby County high schools near 65/31 that have really grown over the last 25 years as population shifted into the county. Oak Mountain is a newer high school built to accomodate a lot of the growth near 280. Of the three, I would guess Oak Mountain has the highest income per household and gets the better test scores.
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Old 04-06-2009, 09:39 PM
 
5 posts, read 18,033 times
Reputation: 10
I graduated from UAB in English with a philosophy minor and took a fair number of poly sci classes. All the instructors I had along those lines were excellent. At UAB I would recommend talking to Dr. Ted Benditt in phil and Dr. Wendy Gunther-Canada in poly-sci. However, all the times I spent at UAB the professors pretty much had an open door policy and were very willing to talk with current and potential students. Before you made up your mind, though, I would recommend looking at Samford or Montevallo universities. They're both excellent schools. Samford is private and more conservative; Montevallo is public and probably one of the more liberal campuses. Plus, Montevallo is one of the main liberal arts colleges in the area. It's also commutable from the Birmingham area if you're interested in that.

I can't speak for Auburn really except to say that they're a very strong engineering and agricultural campus. On the other hand, UAB is known for it's medical center, and many of it's other schools contain excellent departments. Basi
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