The Vestavia Hills City School System is the school system of the

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

, suburb of

Vestavia Hills Vestavia Hills, colloquially known simply as Vestavia, is a city in Jefferson and Shelby counties in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is a suburb of Birmingham and it is made up of Vestavia, Liberty Park, and Cahaba Heights. As of the 2020 census ...

. Vestavia Hills City Schools serve 6,762 students and employ 765 faculty and staff. The district includes five elementary schools, two middle schools, and one high school.

Student Profile

Vestavia Hills City Schools serve all students living within

city limits. The student population is 83% white, 8% African-American, 5% Asian, and 3% Hispanic. Surrounding Jefferson County is 53% White 42% Black and 1.4% Asian. Approximately 10% of students qualify for free or reduced price lunch, a proxy for poverty. Two percent are

English Language Learners English-Language Learner (often abbreviated as ELL) is a term used in some English-speaking countries such as the US and Canada to describe a person who is learning the English language and has a native language that is not English. Some education ...

(ELL), and 7% have Individualized Education Programs. Vestavia Hills City Schools have an overall graduation rate of 99%. Approximately 95% of Vestavia Hills students meet or exceed state proficiency standards in mathematics, and about 97% meet or exceed standards in reading.

Schools

The system consists of nine schools: five elementary schools, two middle schools, a ninth grade campus, and one high school.

Elementary schools

* Vestavia Hills Elementary East * Vestavia Hills Elementary West * Vestavia Hills Elementary Cahaba Heights * Vestavia Hills Elementary Liberty Park * Vestavia Hills Elementary Dolly Ridge

Middle schools

* Louis Pizitz Middle School * Liberty Park Middle School

High schools

* Vestavia Hills Freshman Campus *

Vestavia Hills High School Vestavia Hills High School. Vestavia Hills High School (VHHS), founded in 1970, is a public high school in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama, USA. It is part of the Vestavia Hills City Schools. History The land was acquir ...

Mascot Controversy

In the wake of the

Charleston church shooting On June 17, 2015, a mass shooting occurred in Charleston, South Carolina, in which nine African Americans were killed during a Bible study at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. Among those people who were killed was the senior past ...

in June 2015, ''

The Birmingham News ''The Birmingham News'' is the principal newspaper for Birmingham, Alabama, United States. The paper is owned by Advance Publications and was a daily newspaper from its founding through September 30, 2012. After that day, the ''News'' and its two ...

'' highlighted this racially charged history and called for a removal of the Vestavia Hills mascot, the Rebel Man, which resembled the same mascot used by the University of Mississippi until 2003. Meanwhile, the school superintendent called it 'a "point of contention for some members" of the community.'Ana Rodriguez
'We will be responsive': Vestavia Hills to address Rebel mascot, superintendent says
''The Birmingham News'', June 23, 2015 By early July 2015, some Vestavia Hills residents wrote an op-ed in ''The Birmingham News'' calling on the school board to change its name.
''The Birmingham News'', July 7, 2015 By the middle of July 2015, comedian

John Oliver John William Oliver (born 23 April 1977) is a British-American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. Oliver started his career as a stand-up comedian in the United Kingdom. He came to wider attention ...

made fun of the claim that it was "heritage, not hate" on national television.Kyle Whitmire
John Oliver ridicules Vestavia Hills for rebel mascot
''The Birmingham News'', July 13, 2015 He argued, "Your logo is a plantation owner. ..And saying that the image of a plantation owner is not used in a racist way is a bit like arguing the Hitachi magic wand is only used as a back massager." The Vestavia Hills School System decided to keep the ''Rebels'' name but initiate a "rebranding" process. As of the 2016-2017 school year, the Rebel Man mascot is no longer being used by the high school.

References

External links

* {{official website, http://www.vestavia.k12.al.us/ Education in Jefferson County, Alabama School districts in Alabama 1970 establishments in Alabama School districts established in 1970