Alabama Aerospace and Aviation High School

Alabama Aerospace and Aviation High School operates as a rural-scale high school in Bessemer, Alabama, part of Alabama Aerospace and Aviation. Current enrollment sits at 161 students spanning grades 9 through 12. By comparison, Alabama's public schools average about 682 students each, so Alabama Aerospace and Aviation High School sits 76% below that benchmark.

Alabama Aerospace and Aviation High School sits inside Alabama Aerospace and Aviation, the local public-school operator responsible for the campus.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Alabama Aerospace and Aviation High School logs that the largest single group is Black, at 78% of enrollment; the rest is composed of 8% White, 7% Hispanic, 6% multiracial. The wider county runs roughly 42% Black, putting the school's mix meaningfully more Black than the area baseline.

Looking at school resources, Staff filings list 8 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 20.1:1 students per teacher. That figure is higher than the state norm's 17.2:1 average. Around 61% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. That share is noticeably above Jefferson County's rate of about 52%.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, Alabama Aerospace and Aviation High School tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 39.3% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 26.1%.

In the area at large, ACS estimates for Jefferson County put median household earnings sit near $66,388, about 36% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 11%. Across Jefferson County's 181 public schools (combined enrollment of about 97,401 students), Alabama Aerospace and Aviation High School is one campus in the mix.

Nearest neighbor: Empower Community SchoolLower School, around 1.0 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Alabama Aerospace and Aviation High School. Among the 9 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Alabama Aerospace and Aviation High School ranks 9th on composite proficiency, behind the local average of 41.5%.

Geographically, the school is in a bedroom-community area. Alabama Aerospace and Aviation High School is a charter school, which puts it inside the public-school system but outside the standard district-managed model.

On this page, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. The community welcomes input from current and former families.