Spain Park vs. Oak Mountain vs. Pelham vs. ??? (Birmingham, Hoover: house, high school)

[soccerphysio]

Originally Posted by Clear Lake TX

Academically, in Birmingham Metro:

Mountain Brook>Vestavia Hills >=Oak Mountain > Spain Park >= Hoover > Pehlem

What do you base these rankings on?
Without a doubt, Mountain Brook is tops, but most people cannot afford to live there. I would not rank Vestavia above Oak Mtn and Spain Park in any regards; it would be a toss up between all three of these.

[soccerphysio]

Originally Posted by Bammy-Bound

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.

Greystone would still be a great option; as a previous poster stated, your husband would not have to deal with the infamous 280 traffic. He would cut across on Hwy 119 or Valleydale Road.

I would avoid the Pelham SD if you are accustomed to top notch quality education in SC. We left primarily because we love the 280 area and to get into Spain Park SD. The test scores in Pelham had significantly dropped the year after we left, so it was a wise decision.

As for my personal experience, Birmingham is a great place to raise a family. The schools (Oak Mtn, Spain Park) provide great education, and it is a very family oriented place. I personally have wanted to move back up north, simply because I miss many of the things I enjoyed in my younger days (New York City and all the cultural opportunities it provides, going to Yankee games, authentic ethnic cuisine, etc). But to be honest, Birmingham is a better place to raise a family in many regards.

[Geeyes]

My child is very happy at Oak Mountain. I feel the teachers there are very supportive. Academically though I feel Hoover (and Vestavia) are more rigorous. Plus there is more diversity in these two schools than Oak Mtn, if that matters to OP.
I totally agree that Birmingham is a great place to raise a family.

[Geeyes]

Spain Park is also a great school. Don't know much about Pelham.

[Bammy-Bound]

Originally Posted by NatalieS

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 was so impressed with the campus and what I found out once I started exploring UAB (I went to UT, so I have a better knowledge base of SEC schools).

My daughter applied to AU and we do know quite a few influential people there (fortunately, since we're applying late in the game). However, I would be proud to send her to UAB -- and have the added benefit of having her be closer to home.

Thanks for your comments.

[Bammy-Bound]

Originally Posted by soccerphysio

Greystone would still be a great option; as a previous poster stated, your husband would not have to deal with the infamous 280 traffic. He would cut across on Hwy 119 or Valleydale Road.

I would avoid the Pelham SD if you are accustomed to top notch quality education in SC. We left primarily because we love the 280 area and to get into Spain Park SD. The test scores in Pelham had significantly dropped the year after we left, so it was a wise decision.

As for my personal experience, Birmingham is a great place to raise a family. The schools (Oak Mtn, Spain Park) provide great education, and it is a very family oriented place. I personally have wanted to move back up north, simply because I miss many of the things I enjoyed in my younger days (New York City and all the cultural opportunities it provides, going to Yankee games, authentic ethnic cuisine, etc). But to be honest, Birmingham is a better place to raise a family in many regards.

I would live in NYC in a heartbeat, too (if $$$ was plentiful enough to live a lifestyle similar to what I've enjoyed in the Southeast & Midwest). I am going to focus on the North Shelby area (not that I'm going to adopt the attitude of a resident whom pointedly wears that location like a badge of honor -- tee-hee). Truly sounds like a toss-up between Spain Park & Oak Mountain as far as school choices.

[Bammy-Bound]

Originally Posted by jakabedy

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.

Thanks for pointing out that Spain Park is Hoover and Oak Mountain is Shelby Co. -- honestly I never noticed that. I lived in St. Louis for a couple of years and it was almost comical how fanatic the residents were about living in this-direction-of-the County and how harshly they judged those from some other section. I am leaning toward that North Shelby area, but it has more to do with my living preferences and geographical needs than anything.

My 16 yo twin sons are more into the social and sports (football, basketball, and soccer) scenes than academics (they are so happy to get an A, but B's are most typical, but an occasional D has been sighted:^(). What are your opinions pertaining to the sports and social aspects in Spain Park & Oak Mountain?

[jakabedy]

I wish I could help you with the particulars on sports, but I can't. I just follow local news and trends. Maybe someone else will chime in. I will say that Spain Park has always been in the shadow of larger Hoover High. So Hoover High is probably something of a juggernaught in some sports (If your boys watched "Two-A-Days" on MTV, that was Hoover High School) and Oak Mountain probably isn't. But, again, I would defer to those with kids those ages and real experience.

[pennquaker09]

Once upon a time, I lived in Hoover (in Greystone) and I went to Hoover High. At the time I started high school, Hoover high was the only high school.

Driving from Greystone to Riverchase Parkway really would not be that bad. All you have to do is travel Cahaba Valley (119) and you'll be there in like 30 minutes, if that.

Sports are big in Hoover. Accordingly, Spain Park and Hoover both have excellent athletic programs. You really can't go wrong with either of the two, however, football and soccer are competitive sports and you really can't simply be "good" to make the team. These are some the most heavily recruited schools in the state.

Academically, I think Hoover and Spain Park are somewhat equal, but the IB program is at Hoover. From your comments, I don't think that will be an issue though.

I'm probably the only one that is going to say it, but test scores really don't mean that much.

Socially, I think your boys would definitely fit in. Before we moved to Hoover, we lived in Mountain Brook. We moved to Hoover right before the start of my 9th grade year and I was able to make friends pretty fast.

Lastly, if I were going to study Polysci, I would go to Auburn or Alabama.

[soccerphysio]

Originally Posted by Bammy-Bound

Thanks for pointing out that Spain Park is Hoover and Oak Mountain is Shelby Co. -- honestly I never noticed that. I lived in St. Louis for a couple of years and it was almost comical how fanatic the residents were about living in this-direction-of-the County and how harshly they judged those from some other section. I am leaning toward that North Shelby area, but it has more to do with my living preferences and geographical needs than anything.

My 16 yo twin sons are more into the social and sports (football, basketball, and soccer) scenes than academics (they are so happy to get an A, but B's are most typical, but an occasional D has been sighted:^(). What are your opinions pertaining to the sports and social aspects in Spain Park & Oak Mountain?

Now this is where it gets confusing. Spain Park is a Hoover City school, but it is geographically entrenched within Shelby County. The Greystone Subdivisions are are actually further into Shelby County and closer to Oak Mountain than Spain Park; they became incorporated into Hoover because of the high incomes and subsequent tax base (from what I am told). As for the schools themselves, Spain Park and Oak Mountain are essentially on the same road (one of the roads leads to the back entrance of Spain Park), and are only approximately 2 miles away from each other.

I know, clear as mud now, huh?

I'd say the sports and social aspects of Oak Mountain and Spain Park are essentially identical. Hoover puts more emphasis on sports, and that has been receiving some bad publicity in recent years.