Phillips Academy

Phillips Academy operates as a mid-tier elementary school in Birmingham, Alabama, run under Birmingham City. Current enrollment sits at 609 students spanning grades pre-K through 8. Enrollment runs roughly 27% bigger than the state mean of about 480.

Birmingham City comprises 43 schools with combined enrollment of 20,954 students; Phillips Academy is among them.

Looking at the student body, Phillips Academy shows that nearly all students (95%) are Black. Beyond that, the school reports 3% Hispanic. By comparison, Jefferson County as a whole is about 42% Black, so the school skews meaningfully more Black than its surroundings.

Looking at the economic backdrop, Phillips Academy records 33 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 18.4:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 17.0:1, putting Phillips Academy higher than the state norm the norm. Around 56% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Phillips Academy ranks in the top 10% of Alabama public schools. The BeatsExpectations model, a per-state regression of composite proficiency on FRL share, predicts schools with this student profile to land around 43.2%; Phillips Academy posts 62.6%, +19.4 points above that line.

In the surrounding community, community-level numbers for Jefferson County indicate median household earnings sit near $66,388, 36% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and roughly 11% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Across Jefferson County's 181 public schools (combined enrollment of about 97,401 students), Phillips Academy is one campus in the mix.

Nearest neighbor: Norwood Elementary School, around 1.3 miles off. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Among the 9 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Phillips Academy ranks 1st on composite proficiency, above the local average of 37.4%.

The school occupies a downtown site.

Trend over the last 7 years. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Phillips Academy has fell 15%, going from 714 students in 2018 to 609 in 2025.

On this page, recent activity here tends to focus on sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.