1720 Valley Ave #C
Homewood, AL 35209

The leadership at the school and in the district lacks structure and any true concern for the students. The assistant administrator for the freshman is a bully and the principal hides in the office. I have had nothing but bad experiences with the teachers and adminsitrators there. I will say that the harassment is not based in color and gender. It's more about class and social status. For everything my kid loves about this school I can name 5 that I absolutely hate.

I teach in another school system, but live in Homewood and send my kids to HMS. It's a terrific school with a great combination of academic rigor and extracurricular choice. I'm impressed with the quality of instruction and excited about the push to even higher standards. Kudos!

This school gives a nice first impression, but unfortunately has many problems. In terms of learning and teaching, a significant amount of time is spent in activities that are not related to learning or developing soft skills, leaving little time for core subjects, which are then covered fast and shallow. There are extremely low expectations from students as well. This raises flags on how well prepared students are for middle school after attending it. Regarding social-emotional support, some teachers are great and provide it, but others don't at all, and those classes are known to create a bad environment. We experienced good and bad, over the years, so it really depends on which class a student is assigned to each year. Safety wise, there could be better communication with parents and students when things happen. To name an example, in November 2024, the principal sent out an email to all parents informing police was on campus because a Shades Cahaba Elementary student was found with a "hit list". They did not provide any other information, leaving parents concerned and wondering what would follow from there. In contrast, there are non-stop communications for volunteering and fund raising efforts ...