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If you could change one rule at Bush Hills STEAM Academy, what would it be?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
370
Middle
DISTRICT 350 · STATE 508
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·BIRMINGHAM CITY·NCES 010039002204
Bush Hills STEAM Academy
900 16th Street West, Birmingham, AL 35208 · (205) 231-6370 · Jefferson County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE12-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL370 STUDENTS
D
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 9% of Alabama public middle schools
- DTest 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 middle schools
Student : Teacher
20.6:1
18 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 22.2:1 · STATE 17.9:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
85%
316 students
DISTRICT 77% · STATE 58%
Community
2
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other middle schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 120 | 32% |
| Grade 7 | 126 | 34% |
| Grade 8 | 124 | 34% |
Student demographics
21%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 29% · 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
29.4%
AL avg 52.7%
Math
2.5%
AL avg 31.8%
What this means: On the ACAP, Alabama's statewide test, about 29 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 3 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
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
14.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
21.9%
based on AL schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-7.3pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 15% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 22% typical for Alabama schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among Alabama's top nor bottom 10%.
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 Bush Hills STEAM Academy
Bush Hills STEAM Academy's state test result (14.6% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bush Hills STEAM Academy this school | 370 | 85.4% | 14.6% |
| Smith Middle School Birmingham | 336 | 86.3% | 12.0% |
| Green Acres Middle School Birmingham | 309 | 84.5% | 20.0% |
| Ossie Ware Mitchell Middle School Birmingham | 330 | 87.9% | 17.6% |
| Jones Valley Middle School Birmingham | 465 | 85.8% | 11.6% |
| Huffman Middle School Birmingham | 384 | 79.4% | 14.8% |
Matched among Alabama middle 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 Bush Hills STEAM Academy ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In Alabama | In Jefferson County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 14.6% | #244 of 260 | #23 of 30 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 2.5% | #249 of 260 | #25 of 30 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 29.4% | #234 of 260 | #20 of 30 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 370 | #179 of 265 | #23 of 32 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 20.6:1 | #218 of 244 | #22 of 30 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 20.8% | #221 of 246 | #26 of 31 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 85.4% | #28 of 264 | #7 of 32 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -22.3% | #33 of 151 | #2 of 17 |
Ranked against other public middle 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
370
-88 (-19%) vs 2020
Student : Teacher
20.6:1
was 19.1:1
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 | 370 | 18 | 20.6:1 | 85% (316) |
| 2023-24 | 402 | 20 | 20.1:1 | 92% (368) |
| 2022-23 | 433 | 22 | 19.7:1 | 92% (398) |
| 2020-21 | 458 | 24 | 19.1:1 | 92% (421) |
| 2017-18 | 476 | 30 | 15.9:1 | 85% (406) |
| 2015-16 | 507 | 26 | 19.5:1 | 66% (333) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Bush Hills STEAM Academy.
Since 2017-18: students down 22% (476 to 370); teachers down 40% (30 to 18).
About Bush Hills STEAM Academy
Bush Hills STEAM Academy is a small middle school in Birmingham, Alabama. In all, 370 students attend the school in grades 6 through 8. That puts enrollment 27% below the 508-student average for middle schools in Alabama.
Bush Hills STEAM Academy is run by Birmingham City, whose 43 schools enroll 20,954 students.
Of every 100 students at Bush Hills STEAM Academy, about 88 are Black. The school is also 11% Hispanic. That is higher than the 42% Black share among all Jefferson County residents. A diversity index of 21% means there is a 21% chance two randomly chosen students at Bush Hills STEAM Academy are from different groups.
Bush Hills STEAM Academy lists 18 full-time-equivalent teachers; that is about 20.6 students per teacher. The gap from the 17.9:1 average for middle schools in Alabama is 2.6 students per teacher. About 85% of students at Bush Hills STEAM Academy are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The average for public schools in Jefferson County is 52%.
Bush Hills STEAM Academy holds a D allk12 Grade, placing it above 9% of Alabama public middle schools.
Predicted from its free or reduced-price lunch share, Bush Hills STEAM Academy would score about 21.9%. It scores 14.6%, 7.3 points below that figure.
For Jefferson County, Census Bureau data show the median household earns about $66,388 a year, roughly 36% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 11% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Counting Bush Hills STEAM Academy, Jefferson County has 181 public schools.
Bush Hills STEAM Academy's closest public school neighbor is Princeton School, about 0.9 miles away. The five-mile area around Bush Hills STEAM Academy holds at least 8 other public schools. Bush Hills STEAM Academy ranks 6th of 9 among nearby schools on average proficiency, with 14.6% against a local average of 24.7%.
The school's federal locale classification is City: Mid-size.
The 2020-21-to-2024-25 change in enrollment was a 19% decline, from 458 to 370. Its ratio of students to teachers was 19.1:1 in 2020-21, and 20.6:1 in 2024-25.
The Bush Hills STEAM Academy discussion page is a place for open houses, carpools, and field trips. You can also rate the school on this page.
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 Birmingham City
- Huffman High SchoolMagnetHigh · 1,094 students
- Parker High SchoolHigh · 942 students
- Glen Iris Elementary SchoolElementary · 827 students
- Huffman AcademyElementary · 779 students
- Ramsay High SchoolHigh · 762 students
- Woodlawn High SchoolMagnetHigh · 750 students
Other schools in Birmingham
- Oak Mountain High SchoolHigh · 1,648 students
- Oak Mountain Middle SchoolMiddle · 1,168 students
- Huffman High SchoolMagnetHigh · 1,094 students
- Parker High SchoolHigh · 942 students
- Fultondale High SchoolHigh · 848 students
- Glen Iris Elementary SchoolElementary · 827 students
Nearby schools
- Princeton School0.9 mi · 195
- Minor Elementary School1.3 mi · 441
- JacksonOlin High School1.6 mi · 713
- Wilkerson Middle School1.6 mi · 424
- Hemphill Elementary School1.7 mi · 353
- Parker High School2.1 mi · 942
Frequently asked questions
About Bush Hills STEAM AcademyHow many students attend Bush Hills STEAM Academy?
Bush Hills STEAM Academy enrolls approximately 370 students in grades 06-08.
What grades does Bush Hills STEAM Academy serve?
Bush Hills STEAM Academy serves grades 06-08.
How many teachers does Bush Hills STEAM Academy have?
Bush Hills STEAM Academy employs 18 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 20.6:1.
What is the student diversity at Bush Hills STEAM Academy?
Student demographics at Bush Hills STEAM Academy are roughly 11% Hispanic, 88% Black, 1% Two or more.
What district is Bush Hills STEAM Academy in?
Bush Hills STEAM Academy is part of Birmingham City.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.