Mountain Brook School System

33°30′6.38″N 86°45′13.73″W / 33.5017722°N 86.7538139°W / 33.5017722; -86.7538139

Mountain Brook School System
Address
32 Vine Street
, Alabama, 35213
United States
District information
TypePublic
Mottoproviding an effective, challenging, and engaging education for every one of our students
GradesK-12
Established1959
SuperintendentDr. Richard "Dicky" Barlow
School boardMountain Brook Board of Education
Other information
Websitemtnbrook.k12.al.us

The Mountain Brook School System serves the city of Mountain Brook, a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama, United States. The school system supports a city with approximately 20,600 residents.[1] The system was established in 1959[2] in order to avoid federal desegregation.[3]

The school system is widely recognized as one of the most segregated districts in America.[4] Recently, educators and students have attempted to implement diversity programming in response to anti-Semitic events, collaborating with the Anti-Defamation League. However, the School Board decided to sever ties with the Anti-Defamation League after facing opposition from parents.

The Mountain Brook School System comprises four elementary schools catering to kindergarten through sixth grade: Brookwood Forest Elementary School, Cherokee Bend Elementary School, Crestline Elementary School, and Mountain Brook Elementary School. Following sixth grade, students transition to Mountain Brook Junior High School, attending seventh through ninth grades. The school system operates a single high school, Mountain Brook High School, serving grades ten through twelve.[5]

Leadership within the school system has seen minimal turnover. In 2009, the system commemorated its 50th anniversary, coinciding with the appointment of Dicky Barlow, former principal of Mountain Brook High School, as only the fourth superintendent in the system's 50-year history.[citation needed]

There is also a private school, Highlands Day School, within Mountain Brook's city limits, but it is not part of the Mountain Brook School System.[citation needed]

In 2019, Niche ranked the system the 24th best school district in America.[6] In 2017, Mountain Brook Elementary was named a State School of Character, one of only two in Alabama to receive this honor. Schools that receive this recognition demonstrate a dedicated focus on character development.[7] Newsweek Magazine recognized MBHS as one of the nation's top 100 high schools. In 2016, Mountain Brook Schools was named the international Outstanding District by the International Society for Technology in Education.[citation needed]

  1. ^ "Data USA: Mountain Brook, AL". Retrieved April 22, 2018.
  2. ^ "Mountain Brook School System". Bham Wiki. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  3. ^ Miles, Kyra; WBHM (August 7, 2021). "Echoes of the Past as Overwhelmingly White Mountain Brook Debates Diversity". BirminghamWatch. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
  4. ^ Turner, Cory (August 23, 2016). "The 50 Most Segregating School Borders In America". NPR. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
  5. ^ "Mountain Brook City Schools". Retrieved April 22, 2018.
  6. ^ "2020 Best School Districts". Retrieved October 30, 2019.
  7. ^ "Data State Schools of Character". Archived from the original on April 28, 2018. Retrieved April 22, 2018.