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Schools in Zip Code 35242

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At a glance

Schools

12,737

Students

Districts

5-star schools

Top rankedSpain Park High School7^th of 380 Alabama high schools

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Biggest riser

Vestavia Hills Elementary Liberty Park up 14 spots statewide this year

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Smallest classes

Hilltop Montessori School 5.2 students per teacher

SchoolDigger ratings

5★

12 schools without a SchoolDigger rating (private or too few tested students)

See the top-ranked Alabama schools →

Summary:

Zip code 35242, located in the Birmingham, Alabama metropolitan area, is home to 11 highly-rated public schools serving approximately 8,216 students from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade across the Shelby County, Hoover City, and Vestavia Hills City districts, with every school earning 4 or 5 stars from SchoolDigger.

This area offers exceptional educational opportunities, with the Vestavia Hills Elementary Liberty Park and Liberty Park Middle School leading the pack—both rank in the top 11 statewide in their categories, boast the lowest student-teacher ratios (12.3:1 and 15.1:1), and achieve remarkable proficiency rates, including 97.85% in 5th grade English and 92.36% in 8th grade science. At the high school level, Spain Park High School stands out with a 96.4% graduation rate and the highest 11th grade science proficiency (69.52%), while Oak Mountain High School has shown the most improvement, jumping from 13th to 8th in state rankings with a nearly 10-point gain in science proficiency. Interestingly, Mt Laurel Elementary School, despite being in the lower-ranked Shelby County district, outperforms many schools in higher-ranked districts, ranking 12th in Alabama with the highest 5th grade math proficiency (88.04%) in the zip code.

While all schools dramatically exceed state averages—with 3rd grade math proficiency ranging from 66.46% to 88.52% versus the state's 44.89%—there are notable patterns to consider. Chronic absenteeism rises sharply with grade level, from just 2.9-6.5% in elementary schools to 13.3-16.3% in high schools, with Oak Mountain High School having the highest rate at 16.3%. Additionally, math proficiency tends to dip during middle school, particularly in the Oak Mountain feeder pattern where 3rd grade proficiency of 66.46% drops to 43.84% by 7th grade. The area's clear strength is science, where 8th grade proficiency reaches 82.62-92.36% and 11th grade proficiency hits 66.18-69.52%, nearly double the state averages. For families, the Vestavia Hills Elementary Liberty Park and Liberty Park Middle School offer the highest performance and lowest poverty rates (4.95% and 9.73% free/reduced lunch), while Oak Mountain Middle School provides excellent value with the lowest per-student spending ($8,399) yet still achieving 82.62% science proficiency—proving that any school in 35242 will provide a strong educational foundation.

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Ranking:

E Elementary M Middle H High A Alternative P Private

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2026)				Ranking (2025)				Summative Assessment Mathematics (2026)							Summative Assessment Science (2026)			Summative Assessment English (2026)							Per Pupil Expenditures (2019)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2026)	Statewide Rank (2026)	State Percentile (2026)	SchoolDigger Rating (2026)	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	Rank Change from Previous Year	Summative Assessment Mathematics 3rd Grade	Summative Assessment Mathematics 4th Grade	Summative Assessment Mathematics 5th Grade	Summative Assessment Mathematics 6th Grade	Summative Assessment Mathematics 7th Grade	Summative Assessment Mathematics 8th Grade	Summative Assessment Mathematics 11th Grade	Summative Assessment Science 4th Grade	Summative Assessment Science 8th Grade	Summative Assessment Science 11th Grade	Summative Assessment English 3rd Grade	Summative Assessment English 4th Grade	Summative Assessment English 5th Grade	Summative Assessment English 6th Grade	Summative Assessment English 7th Grade	Summative Assessment English 8th Grade	Summative Assessment English 11th Grade	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Greystone Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-5	300 Village Street	Hoover	35242	Shelby County	Hoover City	No	No	No	No	(205) 439-3200	438	33	13.4	15.5%	291 (66.4%)	54 (12.3%)	25 (5.7%)	44 (10.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	24 (5.5%)	96	14^th of 686 public elementary schools	98.0%		96.1	10^th of 680 public elementary schools	98.5%	4	88.5	83.9	70.0					88.7			95.1	87.1	92.9					$12,416	$856	$11,558
Berry Middle School	Public	6-12	4500 Jaguar Dr	Hoover	35242	Shelby County	Hoover City	No	No	No	No	(205) 439-2000	1,058	73	14.5	30.1%	611 (57.8%)	208 (19.7%)	96 (9.1%)	90 (8.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	52 (4.9%)	96	13^th of 443 public middle schools	97.1%		95.7	15^th of 439 public middle schools	96.6%	2				64.4	57.9	58.2			85.3					83.6	83.1	85.7		$10,356	$823	$9,533
Spain Park High School	Public	9-12	4700 Jaguar Drive	Hoover	35242	Shelby County	Hoover City	No	No	No	No	(205) 439-1400	1,472	98	15.0	31.2%	867 (58.9%)	273 (18.5%)	153 (10.4%)	110 (7.5%)	2 (0.1%)	2 (0.1%)	65 (4.4%)	98.6	7^th of 380 public high schools	98.2%		94.4	20^th of 374 public high schools	94.7%	13							59.0			69.5							61.2	$13,243	$825	$12,416
Oak Mountain Middle School	Public	6-8	5650 Cahaba Valley Rd	Birmingham	35242	Shelby County	Shelby County	No	No	No	No	(205) 682-5210	1,168	63	18.5	25.5%	853 (73.0%)	140 (12.0%)	96 (8.2%)	53 (4.5%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	24 (2.1%)	92.3	29^th of 443 public middle schools	93.5%		91.1	33^rd of 439 public middle schools	92.5%	4				60.6	43.8	47.7			82.6					78.4	78.5	81.8		$8,399	$658	$7,724
Oak Mountain Intermediate School	Public	4-5	5486 Caldwell Mill Rd	Birmingham	35242	Shelby County	Shelby County	No	No	No	No	(205) 682-5220	636	37	17.0	28.3%	448 (70.4%)	74 (11.6%)	65 (10.2%)	29 (4.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	19 (3.0%)	91.3	43^rd of 686 public elementary schools	93.7%		91.2	46^th of 680 public elementary schools	93.2%	3		71.2	70.3					73.3				79.8	90.0					$9,015	$1,115	$7,881
Oak Mountain High School	Public	9-12	5476 Caldwell Mill Rd	Birmingham	35242	Shelby County	Shelby County	No	No	No	No	(205) 682-5200	1,648	89	18.5	23.3%	1,197 (72.6%)	172 (10.4%)	161 (9.8%)	90 (5.5%)	5 (0.3%)	2 (0.1%)	21 (1.3%)	97.9	13^th of 380 public high schools	96.6%		96.2	11^th of 374 public high schools	97.1%	2							58.3			66.2							58.3	$9,326	$516	$8,795
Inverness Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-3	5251 Valleydale Rd	Birmingham	35242	Shelby County	Shelby County	No	No	No	No	(205) 682-5240	563	35	15.9	34.8%	352 (62.5%)	119 (21.1%)	49 (8.7%)	26 (4.6%)	3 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (2.5%)								(n/a)	70.1										85.3							$9,652	$750	$8,882
Oak Mountain Elementary School	Public	PK, KG-3	5640 Cahaba Valley Rd	Birmingham	35242	Shelby County	Shelby County	No	No	No	No	(205) 682-5230	675	42	16.0	22.2%	510 (75.6%)	53 (7.9%)	61 (9.0%)	40 (5.9%)	3 (0.4%)	3 (0.4%)	5 (0.7%)								(n/a)	66.5										79.8							$10,933	$828	$10,087
Mt Laurel Elementary School	Public	K-5	1 Jefferson Place	Birmingham	35242	Shelby County	Shelby County	No	No	No	No	(205) 682-7230	498	31	16.2	19.9%	401 (80.5%)	44 (8.8%)	11 (2.2%)	27 (5.4%)	4 (0.8%)	1 (0.2%)	10 (2.0%)	96.5	12^th of 686 public elementary schools	98.3%		97.1	7^th of 680 public elementary schools	99.0%	5	85.9	81.9	88.0					88.9			88.2	91.7	96.7					$10,287	$806	$9,461
Vestavia Hills Elementary Liberty Park	Public	PK, KG-5	17051 Liberty Pkwy	Vestavia Hills	35242	Jefferson County	Vestavia Hills City	No	No	No	No	(205) 402-5400	546	36	15.1	4.9%	441 (80.8%)	31 (5.7%)	20 (3.7%)	32 (5.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	22 (4.0%)	96.7	11^th of 686 public elementary schools	98.4%		93.8	25^th of 680 public elementary schools	96.3%	14	86.5	84.6	72.3					88.5			93.7	91.0	97.9					$13,969	$1,279	$12,689
Liberty Park Middle School	Public	6-8	17035 Liberty Pkwy	Vestavia	35242	Jefferson County	Vestavia Hills City	No	No	No	No	(205) 402-5450	514	42	12.3	9.7%	408 (79.4%)	19 (3.7%)	23 (4.5%)	37 (7.2%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	26 (5.1%)	96.5	8^th of 443 public middle schools	98.2%		97.4	7^th of 439 public middle schools	98.4%	1				76.9	51.7	61.8			92.4					78.3	82.4	93.0		$14,344	$07	$14,335
Independence Preparatory Academy	Public, Charter		4614 Highway 280 1068	Birmingham	35242	Jefferson County	Independence Preparatory Academy	Yes	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(205) 346-6366	0																		(n/a)
Montessori Kids Universe Homewood	Private, Nonsectarian	K	2041 Brookwood Medical Ctr Dr	Birmingham	35242	Jefferson County		(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(205) 848-2714	102	2	51.0		100 (98.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (2.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								(n/a)
Hilltop Montessori School	Private, Nonsectarian	PK, KG-8	6 Abbott Sq	Birmingham	35242	Shelby County		(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(205) 437-9343	188	19	5.2		67 (35.6%)	8 (4.3%)	3 (1.6%)	14 (7.4%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (2.1%)								(n/a)
Joseph S Bruno Montessori Academy	Private, Roman Catholic	PK, KG-8	5509 Timber Hill Rd	Birmingham	35242	Shelby County		(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(205) 995-8709	170	22	5.3		0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								(n/a)
Allan Cott School	Private, Nonsectarian	1-12	150 Glenwood Ln	Birmingham	35242	Jefferson County		(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(205) 969-2880	59	6	9.8		39 (66.1%)	15 (25.4%)	5 (8.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								(n/a)
Primrose School At Meadowbrook	Private, Nonsectarian	PK-K	4855 Meadow Brook Rd	Birmingham	35242	Shelby County		(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(205) 991-3020																			(n/a)
Westminster School At Oak Mountain	Private, Presbyterian	K-12	5080 Cahaba Valley Trce	Birmingham	35242	Shelby County		(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(205) 995-9694																			(n/a)
Briarwood Christian School	Private, Christian (no specific denomination)	PK, KG-12	6255 Cahaba Valley Rd	Birmingham	35242	Shelby County		(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(205) 776-5902	1,614				0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								(n/a)
Essential Church School	Private, Christian (no specific denomination)	K-12	4000 Eagle Point Corporate Dr	Birmingham	35242	Shelby County		(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(205) 201-0327	1,185	59	19.7		1,105 (93.2%)	40 (3.4%)	20 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (1.7%)								(n/a)
Our Lady Of The Valley School	Private, Roman Catholic	PK, KG-8	5510 Double Oak Ln	Birmingham	35242	Shelby County		(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(n/a)	(205) 991-5963	203	18	9.2		0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								(n/a)

Cities Near Zip Code 35242

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Birmingham	0.75 mi	76	251^st
Hoover	1.24 mi	18	17^th
Vestavia Hills	3.53 mi	7	5^th
Chelsea	5.16 mi	4	30^th
Mountain Brook	5.36 mi	6	1^st

See the top AL Alabama cities

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Alabama State Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.