Photo by Jon Anderson.
Spain Park High School ranked as the seventh best public high school in Alabama, according to U.S. News and World Report 2026 rankings.
Three Shelby County-area public high schools placed among Alabama’s top public schools in the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings for the 2026-27 school year, with Oak Mountain, Spain Park and Chelsea all earning national recognition.
Oak Mountain High School ranked No. 818 nationally and No. 8 in Alabama, posting an overall score of 95.44 out of 100. The school’s AP participation rate stands at 59%, with 42% of students passing at least one AP exam. Oak Mountain also ranked No. 1 among Shelby County High Schools and No. 6 in the Birmingham metro area.
Spain Park High School ranked No. 782 nationally and No. 7 in Alabama, with an overall score of 95.64. The school’s AP participation rate is 53%, with 46% of students passing at least one exam. Spain Park ranked No. 5 among Birmingham metro-area high schools.
Chelsea High School ranked No. 2,152 nationally and No. 24 in Alabama, with an overall score of 88.01. The school’s AP participation rate is 53%, with 31% of students passing at least one exam. Chelsea ranked No. 2 among Shelby County High Schools and No. 9 in the Birmingham metro area.
On state-required testing, Oak Mountain posted proficiency rates of 53% in mathematics, 52% in reading and 68% in science. Spain Park posted rates of 52% in mathematics, 53% in reading and 63% in science. Chelsea posted rates of 40% in mathematics, 44% in reading and 60% in science. All three schools topped the statewide averages of 20% in mathematics, 20% in reading and 30% in science.
College Readiness Index scores, which U.S. News uses to measure how well a school’s coursework and testing translate into college preparedness, came in at 46.2 for Oak Mountain, 48.1 for Spain Park and 36.8 for Chelsea. Among Alabama’s 293 ranked schools, Oak Mountain and Spain Park each placed in the top 10 in College Readiness Index, at No. 7 and No. 6, respectively, while Chelsea ranked No. 22.
Enrollment varies across the three schools. Oak Mountain serves grades 9-12 with 1,648 students and a 19:1 student-teacher ratio. Spain Park serves grades 9-12 with 1,472 students and a 15:1 ratio. Chelsea serves grades 9-12 with 1,235 students and a 17:1 ratio.
The shares of economically disadvantaged students were 23% at Oak Mountain, 31% at Spain Park and 23% at Chelsea.
Oak Mountain and Chelsea are part of Shelby County Schools, which has eight high schools serving 6,866 students. Spain Park is one of two high schools in Hoover City Schools, which has two high schools serving 4,391 students.
The rankings are calculated using data from the 2024-2025, 2023-2024 and 2022-2023 academic years and are part of U.S. News’ broader Best High Schools project, which this year evaluated more than 17,900 nationally ranked schools. The methodology weighs factors including state assessment performance, college curriculum breadth and graduation outcomes.
