Shades Valley High School


Shades Valley High School is a four-year public secondary school in the Birmingham, Alabama suburb of Irondale. The school was established in 1948 near Homewood and moved to its present location in 1996. SVHS is the largest of 14 high schools in the Jefferson County School District. School colors are red and black, and the athletic teams are called the Mounties. SVHS competes in AHSAA Class 6A athletics.
SVHS shares its campus with the Jefferson County International Baccalaureate School. The Shades Valley Technical Academies are situated on a separate campus two miles away. Both JCIB and SVTA students participate in SVHS student activities and take some elective courses with SVHS students.

History

In the mid-1940s, the city of Homewood petitioned the county school board to construct a new high school as a replacement for the aging Shades Cahaba High School to serve Birmingham's fast-growing Over the Mountain suburbs. In 1947 Homewood and Mountain Brook residents approved a five-mill property tax to support development of a new school, which opened in the Fall of 1949. The building was dedicated on May 25, 1950 and had an initial enrollment of 870 students, which more than doubled by 1956 before Mountain Brook formed its own school system.
When it was established, SVHS was designed to serve students from across Homewood, Mountain Brook, Vestavia Hills, and Hoover. Over the years, each of these suburbs formed their own school systems, shifting the SVHS student population away from the campus and leading to the need for SVHS to relocate. In 1994, the Jefferson County School Board voted to acquire land for a new site for Shades Valley High School. The new, 42-acre site was located in Irondale, almost eight miles from the school's original location. A groundbreaking ceremony was held October 18, 1994 at the new site and the new school building opened to students on August 14, 1996. It contains 78 classrooms, three science laboratories, a teaching kitchen, nine computer labs, two gymnasiums, a weight room, a large state-of-the-art auditorium, and band and choral suites. The original building was then demolished for construction of the Colonial Bank Building.

Student profile

Enrollment in grades 9-12 for the 2013-14 school year was approximately 1,348 students.
SVHS has a graduation rate of 93%. Approximately 89% of its students meet or exceed state proficiency standards in reading, and about 90% do so in mathematics. The average ACT score for SVHS students is 22 and the average SAT composite is 1560.

Curriculum

SVHS offers a variety of courses at all levels of academic rigor. Approximately 29% of students take one or more of the following Advanced Placement courses:
Students can also take advantage of four different career-focused academies:

Current Sports

SVHS fields teams in the following competitive sports:
Girls' SportsBoys' Sports
BasketballBaseball
BowlingBasketball
Cheerleading Bowling
Cross Country TrackCross Country Track
GolfFootball
Indoor TrackGolf
Outdoor Track & FieldIndoor Track
SoccerOutdoor Track & Field
SoftballSoccer
TennisTennis
VolleyballWrestling

History

SVHS athletic teams have won six state championships:
SVHS teams have also accomplished the following:
SVHS sponsors a variety of student activities, including many nationally-affiliated clubs and organizations. The following is a list of many of these:

Notable alumni