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By DONALD MOTTERN | Staff Writer

Shelby County is home to eight schools that were included on Niche’s 2024 rankings for Best Public High Schools and Best Private Schools for the state of Alabama.

According to Niche.com, the ratings are based on millions of reviews from parents and students, in-depth analysis of key statistics and data collected from the U.S. Department of Education in addition to test scores, college data and ratings collected from millions of Niche users.

New to Niche’s methodology for school rankings, all SAT/ACT-related factors have been removed from their 2024 K-12 school rankings. This adjustment has been made to reflect what Niche claims has been a decreased emphasis on standardized testing in the college admissions process in the aftermath of the COVID-19 epidemic.

Spain Park High School was the county’s highest-ranked public high school at No. 10, followed by Thompson High School at No. 19, Oak Mountain High School at No. 21, Pelham High School at No. 25 and Helena High School at No. 36. All in all, this results in five of the county’s public high schools making their ranking for the top 40 public high schools in the state.

• Spain Park High School received an overall grade of A+ by Niche, thanks to breakdown grades of A for Academics, A- for Teachers, A for Clubs & Activities, A- for Diversity, A for College Prep and B+ for Administration.
• Thompson High School received an overall grade of A by Niche, thanks to breakdown grades of  B+ for Academics, A- for Teachers, A for Clubs & Activities, A for Diversity, A- for College Prep and B+ for Administration.
• Oak Mountain High School received an overall grade of A by Niche, thanks to breakdown grades of A for Academics, B for Teachers, B for Clubs & Activities, B for Diversity, B+ for College Prep and C+ for Administration.
• Pelham High School received an overall grade of A by Niche, thanks to breakdown grades of B+ for Academics, A- for Teachers, B+ for Clubs & Activities, A for Diversity, B+ for College Prep and B for Administration.
• Helena High School received an overall grade of A- by Niche, thanks to breakdown grades of  for B+ Academics, B+ for Teachers, A- for Clubs & Activities, B+ for Diversity, B for College Prep and B+ for Administration.

Chelsea High School came in at No. 95, Shelby County High School at No. 122, Calera High School at No. 158 and Montevallo High School at 161.

While not ranked, Vincent Middle High School did receive an overall grade of B-minus.

Factors considered for the Best Public High School ranking include the following grades and weights: academics, 50 percent; teachers, 15 percent; culture and diversity, 12.5 percent; parent/student surveys and overall experience, 12.5 percent; resources and facilities, 5 percent; clubs and activities, 2.5 percent; and sports, 2.5 percent.

The same methodology was used by Niche to produce the Overall Niche Rankings for their rankings of Best Private Schools in Alabama.

Indian Springs School ranked first in the state’s private school rankings in the K-12 range, followed in the county by Briarwood Christian School at No. 11 and Westminster School at Oak Mountain at No. 20.

• Indian Springs School received an overall grade of A+ by Niche, thanks to breakdown grades of A+ for Academics, A+ for Teachers, A+ for Clubs & Activities, A for Diversity, A+ for College Prep and A- for Sports.
• Briarwood Christian School received an overall grade of A by Niche, thanks to breakdown grades of A for Academics, B for Teachers, A- for Clubs & Activities, n/a for Diversity, A for College Prep and A for Sports.
• Westminster School at Oak Mountain received an overall grade of A by Niche, thanks to breakdown grades of A+ for Academics, B+ for Teachers, B+ for Clubs & Activities, C+ for Diversity, A- for College Prep and A- for Sports.

Cornerstone Christian School was ranked at No. 78 on the K-12 scale.