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If you could change one rule at Bessemer City High School, what would it be?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
760
High
DISTRICT 430 · STATE 682
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·BESSEMER CITY·NCES 010033000087
Bessemer City High School
4950 Premiere Parkway, Bessemer, AL 35022 · (205) 432-3700 · Jefferson County
GRADES 09–12HIGH21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL760 STUDENTS
F
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 2% of Alabama public high schools
- FTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- C-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- ·Three-year trend Not available for this school, so the grade uses the other parts.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded Alabama public high schools
Student : Teacher
21.7:1
35 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 19.2:1 · STATE 17.2:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
80%
605 students
DISTRICT 78% · STATE 58%
Community
6
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other high schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 9 | 195 | 26% |
| Grade 10 | 220 | 29% |
| Grade 11 | 175 | 23% |
| Grade 12 | 170 | 22% |
Student demographics
36%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 40% · STATE 63% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
ACAP 2024-25 . % ProficientEnglish Language Arts
4.1%
AL avg 52.7%
Math
1.3%
AL avg 31.8%
What this means: On the ACAP, Alabama's statewide test, about 4 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 1 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all Alabama schools, those numbers are about 53 and 32.
Source: ACAP. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of AL schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
3.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
26.1%
based on AL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-22.6pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 4% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 26% typical for Alabama schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Bessemer City High School
Bessemer City High School's state test result (3.5% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bessemer City High School this school | 760 | 79.6% | 3.5% |
| Parker High School Birmingham | 942 | 79.9% | 8.9% |
| George Washington Carver High School Birmingham | 570 | 81.6% | 8.1% |
| Woodlawn High SchoolMagnet Birmingham | 750 | 83.7% | 6.8% |
| Percy Julian High School Montgomery | 1,282 | 79.2% | 6.7% |
| Bullock County High School Union Springs | 448 | 83.9% | 12.6% |
Matched among Alabama high schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Bessemer City High School ranks
Among high schools| Measure | This school | In Alabama | In Jefferson County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 3.5% | #302 of 305 | #30 of 32 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 1.3% | #299 of 305 | #29 of 32 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 4.1% | #302 of 305 | #30 of 32 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 760 | #95 of 319 | #19 of 33 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 21.7:1 | #299 of 307 | #30 of 32 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 36.4% | #186 of 307 | #14 of 32 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 79.6% | #38 of 317 | #10 of 33 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -19.9% | #47 of 164 | #4 of 15 |
Ranked against other public high schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
760
-56 (-7%) vs 2020
-38% since 1990-91, when it was 1,234
Student : Teacher
21.7:1
was 22.1:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 760 | 35 | 21.7:1 | 80% (605) |
| 2023-24 | 805 | 34 | 23.7:1 | 61% (489) |
| 2022-23 | 850 | 37 | 23.0:1 | 61% (516) |
| 2020-21 | 816 | 37 | 22.1:1 | 61% (495) |
| 2017-18 | 949 | 42 | 22.6:1 | 61% (576) |
| 2015-16 | 979 | 42 | 23.3:1 | 61% (595) |
| 2010-11 | 1,190 | 61 | 19.5:1 | 77% (915) |
| 2000-01 | 1,131 | 65 | 17.4:1 | 55% (621) |
| 1990-91 | 1,234 | 71 | 17.4:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Bessemer City High School.
Since 2017-18: students down 20% (949 to 760); teachers down 17% (42 to 35).
About Bessemer City High School
Students in Bessemer, Alabama, attend Bessemer City High School, a medium-sized high school. Students in grades 9 through 12 attend, and enrollment is 760 students.
Bessemer City is responsible for 7 schools, Bessemer City High School included, with 3,012 students in all.
At 77%, Black students outnumber all other groups at Bessemer City High School combined. Smaller groups are 22% Hispanic. County-wide, 42% of Jefferson County residents are Black. The chance that two students picked at random at Bessemer City High School belong to different racial or ethnic groups, known as the diversity index, is 36%.
Staffing totals 35 full-time-equivalent teachers, and the student-to-teacher ratio is 21.7:1. For comparison, high schools in Alabama average 17.2:1. A measure often used for student poverty, free or reduced-price lunch eligibility, stands at 80%. The rate at public schools in Jefferson County averages 52%, lower than here.
Measured against Alabama public high schools, Bessemer City High School receives an F. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
The BeatsExpectations model predicts 26.1% for Bessemer City High School, given its share of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The actual figure is 3.5%. The 22.6-point gap ranks in the bottom 10% of Alabama schools.
Bessemer City High School is located in Jefferson County, where median household income is about $66,388, roughly 36% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 11% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Federal data list 181 public schools in Jefferson County, with a combined enrollment of about 97,401.
The shortest distance from Bessemer City High School to another public school is about 0.7 miles, to Empower Community School Upper Campus. A five-mile radius around the school includes at least 8 other public schools. On state test proficiency, Bessemer City High School ranks 8th in a group of 8 nearby schools.
NCES describes the area around Bessemer City High School as Suburb: Large, meaning in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
The student count in 2024-25 was 760, 7% below the 816 of 2020-21.
If you have questions about sports schedules, lunch menus, and spirit week at Bessemer City High School, you can post them here. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
Jefferson County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
667,755
Census ACS
Median income
$66,388
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
36%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
11%
Below federal line
Schools in county
181
97,401 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Bessemer City
- Bessemer City Middle SchoolMiddle · 616 students
- Jonesboro Elementary SchoolElementary · 474 students
- Charles F Hard Elementary SchoolElementary · 364 students
- Greenwood Elementary SchoolElementary · 290 students
- Westhills Elementary SchoolElementary · 277 students
- Abrams Elementary SchoolElementary · 231 students
Other schools in Bessemer
- Oak Grove High SchoolHigh · 777 students
- McCalla Elementary SchoolElementary · 752 students
- Bessemer City Middle SchoolMiddle · 616 students
- Oak Grove Elementary SchoolElementary · 576 students
- Jonesboro Elementary SchoolElementary · 474 students
- Concord Elementary SchoolElementary · 400 students
Other Bessemer City High schools
One other US public school is named Bessemer City High. Bessemer City High School is the largest of the 2.
- Bessemer City HighBessemer City, NC · 590 students
Nearby schools
- Empower Community School Upper Campus0.7 mi · 211
- Bessemer City Middle School0.8 mi · 616
- Westhills Elementary School1.2 mi · 277
- Jonesboro Elementary School2.4 mi · 474
- McAdory High School2.8 mi · 1,259
- McAdory Middle School3.0 mi · 841
Frequently asked questions
About Bessemer City High SchoolHow many students attend Bessemer City High School?
Bessemer City High School enrolls approximately 760 students in grades 09-12.
What grades does Bessemer City High School serve?
Bessemer City High School serves grades 09-12.
How many teachers does Bessemer City High School have?
Bessemer City High School employs 35 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 21.7:1.
How diverse is Bessemer City High School?
Bessemer City High School reports a student body of 1% White, 22% Hispanic, 77% Black, 1% Two or more.
Who oversees Bessemer City High School?
Bessemer City High School is overseen by Bessemer City in Jefferson County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.