Choosing kindergarten schools in Homewood, Alabama is an important decision for parents to make. Fortunately, there are several excellent options available. Here are some of the top schools in the area.
Edgewood Elementary School
Located at 901 College Avenue, Edgewood Elementary School is a school that primarily serves the Edgewood neighborhood. It has a student population of 832 and serves kindergarten through fifth grade. Edgewood Elementary School is part of the Homewood City School District. It is open nine months out of the year.
The Edgewood Elementary School music program teaches kids how to sing and play instruments. It is also a demonstration site for the Alabama Reading Initiative.
The school is located on five acres of land that was deeded to the Jefferson County Board of Education in August 1924. Architects drew plans for a $155,000 rebuilding of the school, with 23 classrooms.
Edgewood Elementary School employs 53 full-time teachers. It has a minority enrollment of 16%. Its tuition is $10,200. The school has the lowest spending per student among all three elementary schools in the Homewood City School District. The library is open all day.
Edgewood Elementary School was recognized with the United States Department of Education’s “Blue Ribbon” award in 1992. It is a school that emphasizes reading. In 2010, it placed in the top 5% of all schools in Alabama for overall test scores. In addition, it placed in the top 5% for math proficiency.
Edgewood Elementary School employs two teachers who have received Orton-Gillingham multisensory strategies training in Atlanta. This will help improve reading instruction. Normally, this training costs over a thousand dollars per teacher.
Shades Cahaba Elementary School
Located on the southeast corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Independence Drive, Shades Cahaba Elementary School serves students in grades kindergarten through fifth. The school is a part of the Homewood City School District, which consists of eight elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school. The school was named after Will Franke, a local businessman, and education booster. Franke had a vision of improving education in Jefferson County.
The school has the distinction of being the first consolidated school in the county, which brought together students from many rural schools in the valley. In the 1960s, it was the only public school in the area offering special education classes. It has one of the highest per-student spending rates in the Homewood City School District.
The school has a student population of 479. It has 37 full-time teachers. The school is also home to the PTO and the PTO-associated parent-teacher organization. The school has a diversity score of 0.50. The school also has the most number of teachers per student of any elementary school in Homewood. Despite the school’s large student population, it has only had three suspensions this school year.
The school is named after Will Franke, a local developer, and businessman who had a vision of improving education in Jefferson county. The school was named after him, although it wasn’t his first rodeo.
Hall Kent Elementary School
Located at 213 Hall Avenue in Homewood, Alabama, Hall Kent Elementary School serves kindergarten through fifth-grade students. The school provides instruction in language arts, math, reading, social studies, and science. The school also offers special education programs. The school employs 51 full-time teachers.
According to the Alabama State Department of Education, Hall Kent Elementary School has an average total spent per student of $11,658. The school’s academic curriculum includes accelerated reader quizzes, 10 fully networked computer workstations, and music instruction. The school’s media center boasts 10,000 books. The school also offers a carpool line, and teachers respond to emails quickly.
The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program awarded Hall Kent Elementary School a coveted blue ribbon for its outstanding achievements. The program names 325 winners in 2021, and Hall Kent Elementary School was one of five schools in Alabama to receive this honor.
Hall Kent Elementary is one of three elementary schools in the Homewood City Schools System. It is located in West Homewood, but it serves students from Oak Grove, Shades Mountain, and Oxmoor. The school also serves students who qualify for free or reduced lunches. The school was named a National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education in 2021.
Hall Kent Elementary School was one of the first kindergarten programs in Alabama in the 1930s. In the late 1940s, the school’s pot-bellied stoves were replaced with gas-heating systems. The school also added an auditorium and four classrooms. The school has a well-deserved reputation for serving children in the West Homewood area.